Photo: Isabella Ruffalo-Burgat via Wikimedia Commons
NYU is doubling its financial support for Washington Square Park, pledging $6 million over the next four years.
The university, whose buildings surround the park and which often calls it an unofficial “campus quad,” said the commitment is meant to keep the park vibrant, thriving and safe. President Linda G. Mills said in comments reported by amNewYork, “Everyone here in the Village and who comes here to visit deserves a vibrant, thriving, and safe Washington Square Park.”
The money is earmarked for NYC Parks Department staffing at the park, covering maintenance, day-to-day operations and horticulture, along with an enforcement team. It could also pay to widen the seasonal lawn restoration program, which keeps patches of grass closed off to let them recover.
The pledge builds on a closer working relationship between NYU and the Washington Square Park Conservancy over the past couple of years. Last year, the university helped grow the Conservancy’s Park Open Studio, which offers free art workshops, and underwrote volunteer cleanup days.
Notably, NYU is not dictating how the cash gets spent. Will Morrison, the Conservancy’s executive director and the NYC Parks administrator for the park, said that one of the best things about the gift is that NYU is trusting the Conservancy and Parks to decide where it is needed most.
Arlene Peralta, NYU’s assistant vice president of community engagement, described the park as “a really fantastic, dynamic public space.”
