N.Y. Park Has Redesign Lawsuit

Greenwich Village residents opposed to the city’s plans for a $16 million makeover of Washington Square Park have filed a lawsuit to block the renovation.

The suit, filed on July 22, charges that the planned redesign, which includes moving the fountain about 20 feet to the east to align with the Washington Arch, is arbitrary and capricious.

“The park’s designers made plazas purposely asymmetrical according to what is known as Olmstead’s naturalistic design theory espoused by Frederick Law Olmstead,” the lawsuit says, citing the designer of Central Park.
Responding to public outcry, the city Parks Department backed down from a plan to place a fence and gate around the park. The redesign now calls for a short fence but no gate.

But the Emergency Coalition to Save Washington Square Park, the group that filed the lawsuit, says the redesign is unnecessary and would interfere with use of the park during the two years it would take to complete.

In addition to neighborhood organizations, the plaintiffs include Robert Nichols, the landscape designer of the previous Washington Square Park renovation 35 years ago.

Washington Square Park was built in the 1820s on the site of a former potter’s field. —Source: Newsday