I’m a little behind on this tho’ sometimes it’s hard to know what’s truth. You may heard last week that the New York Police Department arrested a man who lives in the Village for conspiring to blow up the Arch. (!) I don’t think that would be an easy target – it would take some high powered explosives. It’s pretty sturdy, except, of course, when a chunk falls from it— which happened in October. These pictures – which I never ran – are from when they were inspecting it shortly afterwards.
From the January 9th New York Times, Man Planned Explosion in Washington Square Park:
A man who was arrested last month on a charge of possession of a chemical explosive in his Greenwich Village apartment recently told acquaintances that he was busy “making bombs” to “blow up” Washington Arch, a police official said Wednesday.
“Acquaintances” told police that the suspect was “sprinkling a white powder on the sidewalk inside Washington Square Park and then striking it with a rock, triggering an explosion, according to Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. Investigators believe the powder was a chemical called hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, or HMTD.”
Yikes.
The Arch is one of my favorites things at the park. Please people don’t attempt to blow it up!
Photos (October 2012): Cathryn