Will fences blocking off 3/4 of WSP lawn from use come down by Memorial Day?

A reader wrote to me a week ago Sunday an email with the subject: “What date are we allowed to sit on the lawn at Washington Square Park?” This person continued:

Hi, Spent a very frustrating half hour trying to have this simple park-goer’s need answered. Impossible.!  Do you know ?
A simple pleasure.. lie on some grass and read a book.
many thx.

Shortly after large swaths of lawn on the NorthEast, SouthEast, and NorthWest Quadrants were fenced off, I wrote to the Parks Department on April 4th. The response was clear and to the point:

We just reseeded, so it will be about a month from now.  This is necessary to do at least twice a year in order to maintain the grass.There is one large and two small panels open near the chess area that we did not need to reseed and are currently open to the public.

Grass is extremely difficult to maintain on lawns that are as heavily used as the ones in this park.  In order to keep the grass growing for the public’s enjoyment, we need to adhere to strict maintenance schedules, which includes closing for reseeding twice a year and keeping opening and closing hours.  We also close the lawns (on a rotating basis) a few days at a time during the season to let them rest.  We also do not allow active sports or dogs on the lawns.

This is understandable, I think. But now that it’s 6 1/2 weeks of time with the lawn fenced off… it would seem time the fencing comes down. The area around the Chess Plaza can’t handle the demand, certainly on the weekends.

Maybe before Memorial Day?