Reply With Quoteyour in the city now?
Snapped this picture a few nights ago while walking home. I'm obsessed with this park. Run through it on my route every morning and love to people watch in the evening!
your in the city now?
YEP! Finally!
The renovation of the eastern half of WSP continues, with most of the new drainage & plumbing in the ground and the pathways now delineated.
Shots from the last few weeks ...
The NE corner:
From the central plaza looking east:
Along Washington Square East foundations for the new fence are going in:
The SE corner:
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Garibaldi
One of the main features of this part of the Park's renovation is the reconfiguration of Garibaldi Plaza, situated to the east of the central fountain, and the new "Teen Stage" on the southern edge of this plaza.
To do the work they've had to move Garibaldi about (he used to face east, towards the fountain, but the new plan has him facing south). All this work gave the Park folks a chance to fix up both Garibaldi himself and his old pedestal.
Here's Garibaldi after they took him off his pedestal and shoved him to the side while work on his new plaza got started:
One day he climbed back up on his pedestal took up his new position at the north side of his plaza:
Now Garibaldi lines up with LaGuardia Place, and can look all the way downtown via West Broadway:
He's got a great perch for watching the other renovations going on around him:
Here they're working on the new petanque courts:
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Garibaldi, Part 2
Here we see the designer of the newest version of Washington Square Park,
George Vellonakis, checking out the progress ...
A few days later Garibaldi was fenced off and wrapped up, most likely to protect him
as construction continues and the concrete base for his new plaza is laid ...
Meanwhile, folks beyond the cyclone fences in the re-opened and renovated part of WSP
are enjoying the fountain and a great spring in NYC:
Garibaldi looks kind of lonely up there, sealed off as he is:
Until one day this week when somebody climbed up top to give him some company:
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Did you talk to him? His print interviews suggest he's an arrogant creep.Originally Posted by lofter1
On occasion. He's a nice accessible guy when one on one. A bit less so when having to explain to those who aren't within the circle.
Seems he's designed something here with marching orders from higher ups. And possibly with orders to keep it all close to the vest, in hopes that unpopular stuff will get through without too much yelling and screaming.
AMAZING! Love that photo! Thanks so much for sharing!
That perimeter seating: isn't it ideally configured to put most people in the wrong place if there's something going on near the middle of the circle?
The circle has lost much of its "come together."
(Unless you want to come together around a tree, maybe. Convex and concave.)
You'd think so yet there manages to be several groups of entertainers, large and small, on any given day or evening throughout the park. Most of the larger gatherings occur on one "side" of the fountain - any side - people sitting or standing wherever. The new stone benches, which are too low but adequate enough, still accumulate the guitar singalongs, and most small bands (jazz, bluegrass, etc...) usually find a spot near the benches. I know of no other gathering place in the city with that much music going on at any given time. It is usually a real treat. A few months ago I saw the piano player get two guys to help haul his piano over the fountain perimeter, down the stairs, and up onto the center grate, where he then played beautifully in front of a huge crowd (the fountain was off obviously). So I guess it could been designed better but it seems not to have made any difference, the people still gather in droves.
Well, it's nice to know people will make the best of anything.
How does it feel to be rigorously on the axis of Fifth Avenue? Is the energy still contained or does it leak a little bit?
Funny thing is that, while the fountain is now centered on the Arch, it doesn't lie on the axis of Fifth Avenue, as Fifth hits the north edge of WSP at a slight angle (and seemingly a tiny bit to the west of the Arch's center). Moving the fountain has made that juxtaposition, barely noticeable before, more apparent (for those who are looking). If you drew a straight line down the middle of Fifth into WSP it would run to the east of the fountain.
We need to get you aligned, Lofter.
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