By David H. Ellis
After conceding to some demands of residents and local officials, organizers for the New York Is Book Country festival last Wednesday secured Washington Sq. Park and adjacent New York University as their host site.
During the festival planner’s meeting with representatives of the Parks Department, N.Y.U. and Community Board 2 District Manager Art Strickler, the parties fashioned an agreement that would keep commercial sales out of the park and alleviate potential noise for neighboring residents.
“The attitude was that we were more happy if they didn’t come here at all, but realizing it was next to impossible, we at least preserved the principle of protecting neighbors on the east side of the park and preventing commercial and retail ventures in the park,” said Strickler.
The festival, which was expanded from one to two days this year, will include book signings, lectures by authors and the sale of current and rare books. Situated in Midtown for the past 25 years, organizers pushed for its relocation down Fifth Ave. to the Village. During their June 17 meeting, Community Board 2 members recommended the Parks Department deny the permit, citing potential traffic problems and the dangerous precedent the event would set for other commercial enterprises hoping to use the park. Among other opponents included the Washington Place Block Association, which represents residents in the 153-apartment building at Washington Pl. and Greene St.
Lee Temares, a representative of approximately 30 antiquarian booksellers, has also protested the move. She pointed out that many rare-book dealers may drop out if organizers won’t address their concerns such as parking for her group during the event.
“We love New York Is Book Country. We think the concept is fantastic and we desperately want to do it,” said Temares, a rare bookseller located in Manhasset, Long Island, in a telephone interview. “But we’re waiting and so far the answers have not been forthcoming.”
As part of the agreement, book sales will be prohibited in the park, although an information booth, giveaways and several free performances are planned in the park. Exhibitors and vendors will be restricted from the area east of the square and are expected to occupy the sidewalks surrounding the park as well as LaGuardia Pl., Thompson and Sullivan Sts. from Washington Sq. S. to W. Third St. The agreement also included a requirement by festival organizers to open the streets to traffic shortly after the festival ends at 5 p.m. each day.
“I’m happy — absolutely,” said N.Y.I.B.C. president Ann Binkley regarding the outcome of the negotiations. “I hope the arrangement we’ve come up with is good for the residents. I did understand their issues and I hope this helps solve that.”
Ann Marie Sumner, president of the Washington Square Association, said she supported the event, believing that the event’s artistic merit outweighed potential street congestion that the event poses.
“Putting programs into the park is what it ought to be for,” said Sumner last week. “We have so many street fairs and they’re tiresome and vulgar, so I can’t imagine what a book fair can do.”
The festival, which is sponsored by Target, Harper Collins Publishers, Random House, Borders and The New York Times, is planned for the weekend of Oct. 2-3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. With over 100 vendors and exhibitors, a portion of the funds raised from the festival is expected to go towards the planned renovation of Washington Sq. Park, although no figures were available at press time from the Parks Department.
N.Y.I.B.C. also announced recently that Washington Sq. Park will be the site for a weekly children’s reading hour every Wednesday starting this week until Labor Day.
