Maybe NYU would do a better job with Washington Square Park. After the contractor working on Phase II of the park's controversial renovation went absolutely bonkers on the Parks Department, blaming construction delays on mishaps like officials ordering the wrong granite paving stones, The Villager set out to discover the truth and catalogue all the problems with the park. Please note that this is much more entertaining if you're playing this song while reading:
For starters, it seems the Parks Department ordered the wrong color Canadian granite, “Molten Black,” for lining the pathways and plaza areas; so it all had to be returned and the right color, “Caledonian,” ordered. In addition, we’re told that the contractor installing the granite has put a lien on the job, and is not working until he’s repaid for the cost of the order screw-up, which he had to foot. In another goof-up being pinned on Parks, the circular granite, low retaining wall around the chess plaza in the park’s southwest corner has to be shifted about 6 feet north, because if completed as it is now, it would run right into a beautiful 150-year-old London Planetree! And that's not all!
We hear that Parks’ plans for the job mistakenly showed a “light post” instead of the humongous tree at that spot. But it’s even worse that that: The entire path that connects the chess plaza to the Lyman Holley monument circle — and which has been lined with the granite retaining walls — also has to be shifted. In addition, we hear the wrong type of children’s swings (not safety compliant) nearly got installed as part of the playground’s renovation. A fundamental part of the problem is reportedly that the computer (CAD) drawings Parks provided for the project were completely out of whack — the layers didn’t line up properly — so it all had to be redrawn by hand.And after all that, the Parks Department says Phase II will be done in December, just two months after the original completion date?though we're not sure if that new deadline doesn't line up properly and will have to be redrawn by hand.
· Park problems [The Villager, second item]
· Washington Square Park Contractor Rips Parks Department [Curbed]
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