[Photo via i mei/Flickr]
Many Greenwich Village residents opposed to the renovation of Washington Square Park fear that the NYPD will use the opportunity to "clean up" some of the more sordid elements that make the park so, um, unique (smoke...smoke...smoke...). But is sitting down at the chess tables to eat a sandwich one of those suspicious activities? With the digging in full swing, the Villager reports that last week cops were shooing away people seated at the chess/checkers tables who weren't actively involved in a game. Some lunchers were even reportedly threatened with tickets for loitering. And don't think for a second that the "How can one loiter in a public park?" question doesn't go unasked by an outraged park activist. Meanwhile, yesterday there was some sort of NYU rally at the park. This highly amusing Flickr photo stream shows several balloons with messages scrawled on them, like the one seen above, as well as "Finish Quickly! I want to graduate here!" and the totally awesome "I met John Krasinski in this park. Please don't take that away. Too late." Kids today.
· Police aren’t playing with chess-table ‘loiterers’ [Villager]
· Washington Square Park Now Has 100% Less Fountain [Curbed]
· Live at the Washington Square Park Memorial Vigil [Curbed]
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