I never hung out in Washington Square Park as a youth. As far as I was concerned, it was something to pass through on my way to points South and West. I wasn't a member of the hordes of dope-smokin' faux-hippies hanging around the fountain or one of the crusty actual hippies hosting tuneless sing-alongs of John Lennon warhorses on battered acoustic guitars over in the corners. I have nothing against all that, but I just didn't take part. But it was certainly a scene unto itself, and has been for some time. For decades, Washington Square Park has acted as the literal and figurative heart of Greenwich Village and been a haven for folkies, bealtnicks, hippies, bohemians, chess-enthusiasts, stoners, skaters, punks, families and simple sun-worshippers alike.
Unfortunately, the Washington Square Park that has meant so much to so many people for years and years is getting an entirely unsolicited and much-maligned facelift. I'm not entirely sure why the Square is undergoing a radical make-over, but I believe it has something to do with the fact that the fountain simply isn't flush with Washington Square Arch and the trajectory of Fifth Avenue (it's a little Westerly of being in that direct line). That's it. Apparently, this massive, hugely expensive undertaking is happening solely to rectify that obsessively anal-retentive pet peeve.
Personally speaking, I can think of at least a dozen other landmarks that could use an overhaul of this sort. Washington Square Park is fine. Why must we fuck with it? Must we feverishly "upgrade" everything? People suck.
The renovation seems poised to begin in earnest. I passed through the park this morning with little Oliver and the bulldozers seem ready to start bulldozing. As such, I understand that the central area of the park is to be closed until some point in 2009. What that means for the Eastern areas of the Park (including the playground in which my kids routinely run around) is a mystery. Regardless, a major part of the neighborhood is going to suddenly become off-limits, and the storied character of same is about to change forever.
While it seems like the contracts have been signed, the fences have been put up and it's a done deal, there will be a "Memorial Service" to protest/lament the encroaching cosmetic surgery to Washington Square Park this evening at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, just up the road on my street, I was tickled to find that public outcry against the impending occupation of the former site of BBQ on University Place by North Fork Bank has kicked it up a notch! All I can say to that is Amen.
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