((ECO)) EMERGENCY COALITION ORGANIZATION
TO SAVE WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK
We need your support!
Community Board 2 has once again defied the community's wishes and this time in a particularly mean-spirited way. Read the history below to see how the majority of board members still refuse to listen to the community they are suppose to serve.
In April of this year, against the wishes or even the knowledge of most Village residents, CB2 hastily passed a resolution supporting the Parks Dept. redesign of Washington Square Park. If implemented, this radical redesign will among other things move the fountain, level the sunken plaza, widen paths, cut down trees and add a tall wrought iron fence.
The expensive $16 million plan of which the city has only $6.8 million will require the balance to come from private sources. If the plan is approved, private interests rather than the interests of the community will take control. In addition to the 1 million dollars committed by NYU and in exchange for a contribution of $2.5 million from the Tisch Foundation, the fountain will be named “The Tisch Fountain.” This arrangement was made by the city in secret before the redesign plan was even presented to the community.
Of the surveys conducted all show strong community opposition to the redesign. ((ECO))’s petition against the redesign has collected 7000 signatures. Also, a growing list of diverse organizations have come out against moving the fountain and leveling the plaza, including the Arts Federation of NY, Greenwich Village Block Associations, artists, filmmakers, NYU students, parents, children, teenagers, dog owners, environmentalists, urban planners, seniors, all people who enjoy WASH.SQ. PARK and appreciate its historic design.
There is broad community support for the repair, renovation and maintenance of this sorely neglected Park and there is $6.8 million available. Finally, with press and TV coverage and strong support from The Villager it appeared the community had achieved a victory only to have its efforts usurped – not once, but twice – by Community Board 2 as follows:
October 6 : CB2 Parks committee unanimously passes a motion rejecting the redesign plan and calling for repair and maintenance of the park.
October 20: The Parks Committee resolution is presented to the CB2 Full Board.. However, instead of discussing the Parks Committee resolution, as required, a last minute privately crafted substitute resolution is introduced that supports the redesign plan. This substitute motion passes, 18-15-1. (Later it was learned that the Parks Dept. designer lobbied CB2 members and intimidated them by saying if his plan wasn’t approved the renovation of the park would take an additional two years or more and constitute a large financial loss to the Parks Dept.) {Curiously, a majority of the members appear to believe that it will take longer to do less.}
November 7: Understanding the importance of this reactionary move the Parks Committee recommitted its support of the community passing a new resolution to rescind the vote of Oct. 20. (During the vote, in their haste to complete a “bait and switch” resolution, the CB2 Board violated several of their own By-laws, when they failed to record the votes and names of Board members who voted on Oct.20th.)
November 9:.At the Executive Committee meeting led by the CB2 Chair another vote was taken quashing the new Nov. 7th resolution in order to avoid its presentation at the full board meeting.
Come to CB2’s Full Board meeting to show your support:
Thursday, November 17th at 6:30pm.
NYU Law School
Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South, Room 220 (Picture ID required to enter.)
For info log on to: http://preservewashingtonsquarepark.com or email: saveoursquarenow@aol.com
Reports have been circulated claiming the redesign would better accommodate disabled people. In fact, disabled activists state the opposite. Further, water main engineers argue that moving the fountain would endanger the infrastructure, possibly causing costly delays
______________________________________________________________________
AN OPEN LETTER
TO SUSAN KENT, DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE,
BRANCH LIBRARIES, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
CONTACT INFO: Fifth Avenue @ 42nd Street, Room 210, NY NY 10018
PH: 212.642.0120 FAX: 212.642.0119
EMAIL: skent@nypl.org
Welcome to New York, Ms. Kent; you're not in L.A. anymore. Teen
lounges may be popular in California, but our neighbrohood library,
Jefferson Market, doesn't need one and didn't even request one.
Since you didn't survey us on our needs and concerns, allow us to tell you what we really need at our library -- more computers, the newest
models with hi-speed internet access and current versions of software
like WORD, and even more computers specifically designated for job
hunters, and a better location with more space to put all of them.
Did you even observe the mad rush down the winding staircase to
reserve a computer the minute the library opens? All computers are
booked for the entire day almost immediately. There are no walk-in
PCs with minimal waiting time because of this great demand. Here's a
novel idea that might not have occurred to you: we need a computer
ROOM! Donnell didn't have to move their 25 public access PCs for its
teen lounge. We thought PCs were the latest in-demand technology, not TVs and music videos. But then the demographic of Village area
residents is not teenagers loaded down with fully-loaded iPods, cells
and laptops.
The nearby Hudson Park branch has a huge, entire second FLOOR
chidlren's area that is completely under-utilized. Do take a look at
it; we're sure you'll agree with us that a teen lounge could easily
and inexpensively share that space. We also strongly believe that
there must be another branch, in another neighborhood, with a much
greater need for a teen lounge.
In closing, a political tip: nothing gets done in this town without
the approval of the community.
WASHINGTON PLACE BLOCK ASSOCIATION
For information
On how you can help
SAVE WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK
Go to: www.openwsp.com
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