Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park for decades has been an iconic part of New York City but it has a much deeper history. At the time when the Dutch first settled here in the early seventeenth century this was a Native American settlement called Sapohanikan. one of an estimated eighty Native American settlements of the Lenape people that existed in the areas that comprise the modern boundaries of New York City.
The native people of the settlement were violently displaced under Dutch Governor Wouter van Twiller in the 1630s, who converted the area into a tobacco plantation for the Dutch West India Company worked by tenant farmers. It remained farmland through over a century of British rule until the early years of the Untied States when in 1797 the New York City Council brought the area and use it as the new Potters Field. In the beginning of the 19th century the city was plagued with large disease outbreaks including smallpox, yellow fever, TB etc. So this area became the mass grave area for these outbreaks until 1825 and there are the estimated remains of over 20,000 human remains that are still buried here. The area was then converted into a militray parade ground and as the city kept expanding northward this area became a very desirable area for higher income individuals even to this day. In 1871 the newly formed New York City Department of Parks converted the area into parkland. 1889 A wooden and plaster version of the current arch was erected and became so popular that just a few years later in 1892 a marble version drawing heavy inspiration from Arc de Triomphe in Paris. In 1918 two large statues of George Washington were added to the monument. During the 1930's there was plans to radically change the park which caused bitter legal fights which last for decades. The park had one last major renovation when the roadways that ran through the park were removed. After WWII the park became a gathering spot for folk singers. Then in the 1950's beatniks started using the park as a gathering place and then in the 1960's hippies began replacing the beatniks. This is where we go from the Wikipedia history to my personal recollection of the park's history. When I was a young boy my mother would tell us to stay on the block when we went out to play which we totally ignored and wander sometimes miles from the house. By the time we became young teenagers my parents and my friend's parents would tell us to "Stay within the neighborhood." which we of course totally ignored and we would take the subway to the far corners of the city including from Coney Island to buses to Rye beach in Westchester County. In the summer of 1968 when I was 13 my friends and I started hanging out at Washington Square on a regular basis. By then the park was a major gathering place for hippies in the city and was a beehive of activity from street musicians, poets, street stand up comics, magicians, political activists giving speeches and a easy accessible place to buy drugs. You would go into the park where many brazen aggressive low life dealers would sell drugs. Through the eighties the police would periodically sweep the area rounding up petty drug dealers in Washington Square Park and also in nearby Union Square and Madison Parks and many politicians just threw up their hands in despair. Then in the late eighties and in the nineties gentrification hit the area with a vengeance and many buildings were converted or torn down to make room for luxury condominiums and rentals and just like that all of a sudden the police and prosecutors found the political will to clear out the petty drug dealers and clean up the area. This was further enhanced when a former federal prosecutor by the name of Rudy Giuliani implemented his "Broken Windows" idea of policing. Today the park is mostly cleared of criminal elements and at least during daytime hours though early evenings. Also in the last few years as recreationally used marijuana is now legal and marijuana dispensers selling vastly more potent varieties has also taken a big dent into the drug trade. Even now with my old friends into their sixties and early seventies after all these years we still use this park as a starting meeting place for a day into evening downtown.
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park for decades has been an iconic part of New York City but it has a much deeper history. At the time when the Dutch first settled here in the early seventeenth century this was a Native American settlement called Sapohanikan. one of an estimated eighty Native American settlements of the Lenape people that existed in the areas that comprise the modern boundaries of New York City.
The native people of the settlement were violently displaced under Dutch Governor Wouter van Twiller in the 1630s, who converted the area into a tobacco plantation for the Dutch West India Company worked by tenant farmers. It remained farmland through over a century of British rule until the early years of the Untied States when in 1797 the New York City Council brought the area and use it as the new Potters Field. In the beginning of the 19th century the city was plagued with large disease outbreaks including smallpox, yellow fever, TB etc. So this area became the mass grave area for these outbreaks until 1825 and there are the estimated remains of over 20,000 human remains that are still buried here. The area was then converted into a militray parade ground and as the city kept expanding northward this area became a very desirable area for higher income individuals even to this day. In 1871 the newly formed New York City Department of Parks converted the area into parkland. 1889 A wooden and plaster version of the current arch was erected and became so popular that just a few years later in 1892 a marble version drawing heavy inspiration from Arc de Triomphe in Paris. In 1918 two large statues of George Washington were added to the monument. During the 1930's there was plans to radically change the park which caused bitter legal fights which last for decades. The park had one last major renovation when the roadways that ran through the park were removed. After WWII the park became a gathering spot for folk singers. Then in the 1950's beatniks started using the park as a gathering place and then in the 1960's hippies began replacing the beatniks. This is where we go from the Wikipedia history to my personal recollection of the park's history. When I was a young boy my mother would tell us to stay on the block when we went out to play which we totally ignored and wander sometimes miles from the house. By the time we became young teenagers my parents and my friend's parents would tell us to "Stay within the neighborhood." which we of course totally ignored and we would take the subway to the far corners of the city including from Coney Island to buses to Rye beach in Westchester County. In the summer of 1968 when I was 13 my friends and I started hanging out at Washington Square on a regular basis. By then the park was a major gathering place for hippies in the city and was a beehive of activity from street musicians, poets, street stand up comics, magicians, political activists giving speeches and a easy accessible place to buy drugs. You would go into the park where many brazen aggressive low life dealers would sell drugs. Through the eighties the police would periodically sweep the area rounding up petty drug dealers in Washington Square Park and also in nearby Union Square and Madison Parks and many politicians just threw up their hands in despair. Then in the late eighties and in the nineties gentrification hit the area with a vengeance and many buildings were converted or torn down to make room for luxury condominiums and rentals and just like that all of a sudden the police and prosecutors found the political will to clear out the petty drug dealers and clean up the area. This was further enhanced when a former federal prosecutor by the name of Rudy Giuliani implemented his "Broken Windows" idea of policing. Today the park is mostly cleared of criminal elements and at least during daytime hours though early evenings. Also in the last few years as recreationally used marijuana is now legal and marijuana dispensers selling vastly more potent varieties has also taken a big dent into the drug trade. Even now with my old friends into their sixties and early seventies after all these years we still use this park as a starting meeting place for a day into evening downtown.