by
SOUND: Crowd noise.
NARR: Around the fountain in Washington Square Park, twin acrobats Tic and Tac try to get a crowd for their show.
TIC AND TAC: White people! You have nothing to be afraid of. (laughter from audience)
NARR: The park is vibrant with entertainment, but it could really use a face-lift. There's cracked pavement everywhere, and the shrubs look neglected. The Parks Department says they have a plan. First, flatten out the plaza and eliminate any steps. Take away ten percent of the pavement and turn it into lawn. Put a fence around the park. And, dig up the fountain -- and move it -- 22 feet to the east.
JUDY PAUL: And the reason they wanted to move the fountain is so it would line up with the arch.
Narr: That's Judy Paul - she runs the Washington Square Hotel, which sits on the northwest corner, overlooking the park. She's also on Community Board 2 and voted in favor of the renovation plan. She says moving the fountain is a good idea.
JUDY PAUL: I thought aesthetically it would really enhance the beauty. Not only within the park, but looking down fifth avenue, it would make it just a beautiful sight.
Narr: But it's this aesthetic approach that worries opponents of the proposal. They've formed a group called ECO - or Emergency Coalition Organization to Save Washington Square Park. Many community groups applaud when concrete is replaced with grass. But ECO members say...once the park gets grassy lawns, the city will start putting up signs to keep off, like the ones they see in Central Park. They say once there's a fence, the city will close the park when protesters want to gather, like they do around City Hall. And - a fence will make it easier to close the park for private events, too. Susan Goren is a member of ECO.
SUSAN GOREN: Nobody wants it turned into a viewing garden. Nobody wants to avoid people from hanging out and enjoying it, that's the history of Washington Square.
Narr: Goren and other ECO members filed a lawsuit in January. They say the Parks Department gave them documents they requested just two business days before the final public hearing on the proposal. That wasn't enough time for ECO to prepare. At that final hearing on January 9, the Parks Department cleared the last hurdle. The Arts Commission approved the plan. Goren says that meeting capped off a year of hearings in which public officials ignored her group's opinions.
SUSAN GOREN: It's almost as if this was a done deal, it's almost as if, if they hold the process long enough they can find the monies in other places. And they're actually raising the remainder of the money behind the scenes as we speak.
Narr: Two money sources got ECO's attention. New York University, which has buildings that surround the park, has donated half a million dollars to construction and another half a million for upkeep. Then there's the Tisch Foundation. It gave 2.5 million dollars toward the renovation. In return, it wants a name plaque near the fountain. Tisch is also a major donor to NYU. But Community Board member Aubrey Lees says there's nothing wrong with private money. In fact, she says, the renovation can't be done without it. Lees remembers when she first looked into the finances to fix up the park.
AUBREY LEES: How are we ever going to generate interest to get money for this thing, to get it fixed up, because Parks said there really wasn't any money.
Narr: Since the Tisch foundation gave instructions for how the money should be used, the opposition group ECO says NYU must have given instructions for its money, too. After all, the university holds its graduation ceremonies in the park, and NYU students use the park like a college quad. But Joshua Taylor, a spokesperson for NYU, says that's not the case.
JOSHUA TAYLOR: It's gotten to the point where, anything that happens that people don't like south of 34th Street that NYU is to blame. I think the most important thing to remember here is that the Parks Department figures out what it wants to do with their own parks. Even if we wanted to, we don't have that kind of authority.
Narr: The Parks Department declined an interview because of the pending lawsuit filed by ECO. A judge will be assigned the case on February twenty-third. Elsa Heidorn, Columbia Radio News.