The original tagline of Washington Square Park Blog, which published its first post slightly over fifteen years ago today (2.26.08) covering the redesign of Washington Square Park by the Bloomberg Administration, was:
“the chronicles of a beloved park and a city government overcome by its own power.”
This blog began with the intent to document the controversial redesign of the park; construction began in late December 2007 and its scope expanded from there.
“old” park…
Former Tulip Patch Wash Sq North (2009) – people sometimes act like there were no flowers at the park previously:
Scene prior to park redesign construction:
In 2009, the Fountain Plaza had opened – the fountain was moved 22 feet east to “align” with the Arch at Fifth Avenue costing an unknown figure to do so:
The first WSP Blog post – February 26, 2008:
The magical park
Thanks for reading, commenting, sharing this blog and appreciating the very magical park.
Cathryn
postscript: The redesign of Washington Square Park took over seven years and cost well over $40 Million. Both figures more than double from what was projected. The budgeted and approved amount for the three phases (which became four phases) redesign at its onset was $16 million.
There is a substantial archive of material over the past 15 years at Washington Square Park Blog, stories uncovered, broken and sourced by mainstream media, history revisited, artists and musicians championed, coverage of community meetings addressing the park, push back against privatization of our public space, and much more.
If you’ve appreciated the work and content at this blog, please consider making a donation:
Donations acknowledge the work that has been done here & help the blogger continue to shine a light on important issues.
Photos over the years primarily by: Cathryn
except for the following:
Black & white photo gal with guitar “old” park fence: Louis Seigal
Group photo, rally to save “hot dog” vendors: Stacy Walsh Rosenstock
One Billion Rising: Jennifer Jager
Aerial view Fountain Plaza construction: J. Bary
Photo of now axed tree & previous scene around fountain: unknown photographer
Nothing about the first dogrun? It was historical. Thank you Robin Kovary.
Hi NYArtist,
I think you meant this comment for the other post on the dog run’s closing for two weeks, maybe? Unfortunately, the WSP Dog Run does not have ANY of the history of the dog runs on their web site. I don’t know why. (It also does not have the locations of the runs that I saw or the hours. ??) It is amazing history that this was the first Dog Run in NYC. I know you have commented before on how Robin Kovary got the Washington Square Park Dog Run started. It doesn’t relate to this post on the history of this blog over 15 years. And on the Dog Run post, I was trying to get across that the runs were closing, not the entire history of the Dog Run. I don’t know every bit of the background of its start offhand. Perhaps I can cover that in the future. I appreciate what Robin Kovary did very much and she sounds like a wonderful person. I try to cover what I can when I can.
Thanks,
Cathryn