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Washington
Square
Park
is
a
9.75-acre
(39,500
m2)
public
park
in
the
Greenwich
Village
neighborhood
of
Lower
Manhattan,
New
York
City.
One
of
the
best
known
of
New
York
City's
public
parks,
it
is
an
icon
as
well
as
a
meeting
place
and
center
for
cultural
activity.[1]
It
is
operated
by
the
New
York
City
Department
of
Parks
and
Recreation
(NYC
Parks).
The
park
is
an
open
space,
dominated
by
the
Washington
Square
Arch
at
the
northern
gateway
to
the
park,
with
a
tradition
of
celebrating
nonconformity.
The
park's
fountain
area
has
long
been
one
of
the
city's
popular
spots,
and
many
of
the
local
buildings
have
at
one
time
served
as
homes
and
studios
for
artists.
Many
buildings
have
been
built
by
New
York
University,
while
others
have
been
converted
from
their
former
uses
into
academic
and
residential
buildings.
ocated
at
the
foot
of
Fifth
Avenue,
the
park
is
bordered
by
Washington
Square
North
(known
as
Waverly
Place
east
and
west
of
the
park),
Washington
Square
East
(known
as
University
Place
north
of
the
park),
Washington
Square
South
(known
as
West
4th
Street
east
and
west
of
the
park),
and
Washington
Square
West
(known
as
MacDougal
Street
north
and
south
of
the
park).
While
the
park
contains
many
flower
beds
and
trees,
little
of
the
park
is
used
for
plantings
due
to
the
paving.
The
two
prominent
features
are
the
Washington
Square
Arch
and
a
large
fountain.
It
includes
children's
play
areas,
trees
and
gardens,
paths
to
stroll
on,
a
chess
and
scrabble
playing
area,
park
benches,
picnic
tables,
commemorative
statuary
and
two
dog
runs.
Statue
of
Giuseppe
Garibaldi
Those
commemorated
by
statues
and
monuments
include
George
Washington;
Italian
patriot
and
soldier
Giuseppe
Garibaldi,
commander
of
the
insurrectionist
forces
in
Italy's
struggle
for
unification;
and
Alexander
Lyman
Holley,
a
talented
engineer
who
helped
start
the
American
steel
industry
after
the
invention
of
the
Bessemer
process
for
mass-producing
steel
The
New
York
City
Police
Department
operates
security
cameras
in
the
park.,[2]
and
NYC
Parks
has
security
officer.
The
area
has
a
low
crime
rate
in
the
"safest
big
city
in
the
United
States."
The
land
was
once
divided
by
a
narrow
marshy
valley
through
which
Minetta
Creek
(or
Brook)
ran.[4]
In
the
early
17th
century,
a
Native
American
village
known
as
Sapokanican[5]
or
"Tobacco
Field"
was
nearby.
By
the
mid-17th
century,
the
land
on
each
side
of
the
Minetta
was
used
as
farm
land
by
the
Dutch.
The
Dutch
gave
the
land,
then
outside
the
city
limits
(Wall
Street)
to
Angolan
residents
of
the
colony,
intending
for
their
plots
and
settlement
to
serve
as
a
buffer
zone
to
Native
Americans
outside
the
settlement.
In
1643,
a
group
of
"half-freed"
slaves
and
elders
such
as
Domingo
Anthony,
Manuel
Trumpeter
and
Catalina
Anthony,
received
land
grants
to
build
and
maintain
farms
in
the
areas
containing
and
surrounding
Washington
Square
Park.[6]
The
families
who
received
the
land
were
no
longer
slaves,
but
had
to
give
a
portion
of
the
profits
they
received
from
the
land
to
the
Dutch
West
India
Company
and
pay
annual
land
fees.
Their
children
would
be
born
as
slaves,
rather
than
free.
The
area
became
the
core
of
an
early
African
American
community
in
New
York,
then
called
the
Land
of
the
Blacks
and
later
"Little
Africa".[7]
Among
those
who
owned
parcels
in
what
is
now
Washington
Square
Park
was
Paulo
D'Angola.[8]
It
remained
farmland
until
April
1797,
when
the
Common
Council
of
New
York
purchased
the
fields
to
the
east
of
the
Minetta
(which
were
not
yet
within
city
limits)
for
a
new
potter's
field,
or
public
burial
ground.
It
was
used
mainly
for
burying
unknown
or
indigent
people
when
they
died.[4]
But
when
New
York
(which
did
not
include
this
area
yet)
went
through
yellow
fever
epidemics
in
the
early
19th
century,
most
of
those
who
died
from
yellow
fever
were
also
buried
here,
safely
away
from
town,
as
a
hygienic
measure.
