Washington Square Park

The Law Project has been working with residents and other community groups to oppose the proposed renovations to Washington Square Park by the NYC Parks Department, which will substantially change the character of the Park for the worse. We are currently writing an amicus brief on behalf of these groups to support a lawsuit seeking to stop this project.

VIEW City's Environmental Assessment Statement for the Washington Square Park here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

10-17-06 NY METRO: Caught on You Tube- Online video shows Parks Dept. official shaky on Washington Square Park facts Judge Goodman in the NY Supreme Court ruled on two cases related to the ongoing issues involving the renovations of New York City's valued parklands.

10-17-06 NY Metro: Dept. drops pledge with Quinn to limit park cuts in Village

A year ago City Councilman Alan Gerson and Speaker Christine Quinn reached an agreement with the Parks Dept. specifying that any reduction to the central plaza in Washington Square Park would be limited to 10 percent.

But at a hearing last week on wheelchair accessibility in parks, Gerson found the Parks Dept. was still not forthcoming about its plan for Washington Square.

“I had simply asked what changes, if any, were going to be made to the northwest section,” he said. “But the Parks Dept. declined to discuss anything pertaining to Washington Square Park. The lawsuit really pertains to the fountain area, and they should be able to discuss other aspects of the design. I fully expect them to honor our agreement.”

But the city appealed the residents’ lawsuit, which sent the department back to win new approvals for the project, and now Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo is disowning the Speaker’s deal. “The Gerson-Quinn letter was never signed by any representative of the Parks Department,” he wrote in the appeal.

“They’re trying to transform the park, so it is no longer a hangout but a pedestrian pass-through mall,” said plaintiff Jonathan Greenberg, coordinator of the Open Washington Square Park Coalition. “Had they come to the community board and said that, they would have never received the approval.”

Tonight’s meeting of Community Board 2’s parks committee promises fireworks. Greenberg claims the city’s draft environmental assessment puts future funding for the park into the hands of a conservancy. “They never disclosed this either,” he said.

7-25-06- Important Decisions Involving Washington Square Park

Judge Emily Jane Goodman in the Supreme Court of New York, New York County handed down two decisions regarding the ongoing litigation involving Washington Square Park. Click on the case names below to download/read the decisions.

Podolsky v. Bloomberg
Greenberg v. City of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- 7-31-06

Parks Department Found by Judge to Have Misled Public and City Commissions

NEW YORK, NY- Recently, a New York City trial court judge put a stop to the Parks Department’s proposed plan to re-design Washington Square Park, a 10-acre public park located in the heart of Greenwich Village, in downtown Manhattan.  A public meeting was held on February 2, 2005 in order to disclose re-design plans to Community Board 2 (Board) and receive their approval.  At this meeting the Parks Department failed to provide accurate information concerning the physical changes that would take place and received the support of the Community Board, specifically changes to the historic fountain and plaza area. After deceiving the Community Board, the Parks Department brought its ill-begotten endorsement, along with more misinformation, to the Landmarks Commission and gained its approval also.  Finally, the Parks Department went before the Arts Commission.  By that time, the Parks Department was more forthcoming with their actual plans, but still far from the full disclosure one would hope for.  Based on this information and the previous endorsement from the Board and approval from the Landmarks Commission, the Arts Commission gave the Parks Departments the go ahead.

The Parks Department argued that their deception was of no consequence because the Board did not have the power to deny the project outright. On July 26, 2006 Judge Goodman from the Supreme Court of New York held in Greenberg v. City of New York (Index No. 105857/06) that, the Parks Department had over stepped its bounds by giving misinformation to the Community Board and that the Board had an important role to play in the approval process even if it did not have the final say.  The court also said that since the Landmarks and Arts commissions did not have a proper review from the Board or correct facts from the Parks Department, they could not make a proper decision about the plans.

The court ruled against the Parks Department and in favor of Washington Square Park.  The court held that, intentionally or not, the Parks Department concealed drastic changes to the park’s fountain and plaza area and misled Community Board 2, the Landmarks Commission, and the Arts Commission into approving its new design.  The Parks Department must now go back to those agencies and earn their approval with truthful, accurate information.  The topic of this litigation was commenced by Ronald Podolsky in Emergency Coalition Organization to Save Washington Square Park v. City of New York and in Podolsky v. Bloomberg (Index No. 100998/2006) and is sure to be a hot topic for several weeks to come!

Summary by Keiko Cervantes