Assemblymember Deborah Glick’s position on whether Washington Sq. Park should be enclosed by a fence is clear. In a statement Glick released at the Community Board 2 Parks Committee meeting earlier this month, at which the committee was voting on the Parks Department’s renovation plan for the square, Glick stated she is against the plan to add a 4 ft. 8 in. wrought-iron fence around the park.
“It should come as no surprise that I am very concerned about the proposed fence around the park,” Glick said in the statement. “It would have negative effects on the use and appearance of the space. By walling off the park from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of which it is an essential part, the very nature of the park will be changed. Much of Washington Sq. Park’s current popularity is due to the park’s interaction with its urban environment. It would be a loss to see the park changed from feeling like a part of the neighborhood into something that is merely surrounded by its neighborhood. While the Parks Department has stated that some means beyond signs is needed to inform people that the park is closed, a 4-ft. fence is not the appropriate method to accomplish this goal.”
