Previously, there was somewhat make shift recycling at the park that appeared in early 2011 and I wondered at the time if WSP might get some shiny, flashy bins like other parks had. Now, through a joint effort by the Department of Sanitation and the Parks Department, Washington Square has been added as one the city’s official public space recycling locations!
From 2002 (when Mayor Bloomberg cut recycling of plastics and glass in New York City, citing it as too costly) to 2009, I was very involved in reuse and recycling with a group I co-founded called Recycle This!. I remember in 2007 when the city’s public space recycling pilot program began in 8 locations throughout the five boroughs. It is now up to 906, quite an improvement, and Washington Square Park is one of them.