Washington Square Village in the NYU 2031 Plan

I am intrigued by the semantics of the NYU 2031 Plan.  In this post I consider an excerpt from the plan that discusses the size and feel of the interior of Washington Square Village which the plan has named the North (Super)Block.

On page 165 of Chapter 6 - The Core (or page 30 of 36 if you are reading the NYU2031 pdf), the plan's authors describe the proposed changes to the existing courtyard including the playground between the two buildings of Washington Square Village:

The intent is to break the vast interior of Washington Square Village into smaller and more intimate spaces, promoting a park-like atmosphere (emphasis added).

Here is a Google Map view of the courtyard in 2011:

Image: Washington Square Village courtyard: Hideo Sasaki Garden (2), playground (3).  Area 1 includes park strips and retail and commercial space on LaGuardia Place.

The courtyard looks park-like in the above aerial image and when you are in the Hideo Sasaki Garden and in the playground, the courtyard feels park-like.  The interior of the Sasaki Garden is designed into discrete spaces: the fountain, the trellised seating areas, the grove of raised planters (shown below), etc.  We first wrote about the garden in June.

The description of the WSV courtyard as vast is misleading.  The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines vast as "very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially in extent or range."  Central Park is a vast greenspace at 843 acres.  Washington Square Park is big at 9.75 acres.  The Sasaki Garden is 1.5 acres.  I think (do not quote this figure) the playground is 11,700 square feet (less than 0.3 acres). The existing playground is approximately 21,000 square feet.*  Despite their sizes, the garden and playground are essential greenspaces in the block and the neighborhood.  The university's most recent proposal (March 2011 illustration) for this block represents a significant reduction in total green, open space between the buildings of Washington Square Village.

* In order to build a temporary gym while the existing gym is demolished and rebuilt, the university has proposed a 27,000 square foot temporary playground that would be placed on top of more than half of the Sasaki Garden; the proposed final playground would be significantly smaller than either the existing playground or the proposed temporary playground.

Nine hawthorn grove at Imperial No. 9

The Imperial No. 9 restaurant at 9 Crosby Street that has received better ratings for its decor, including the hawthorn grove that fronts the street, than its food.

Several dictionaries define a grove as a group of trees growing in the absence of understory vegetation.  I always thought that a grove is a seemingly random or at least a circular arrangement of trees but the nine hawthorn grove at Imperial No. 9 is arranged in three rows of three.  The grove is mulched with small stones and is separated from the sidewalk by a vine-filled metal trellis.

A grove can also be a small fruit tree orchard and orchards are typically planted in rows.  Web searches did not reveal details about the restaurant's landscape intention.

Collect Pond Park and the Canal Street connection

In June, The SoHo Memory Project blogged about the origins of Canal Street.  In that post, we learned that Canal Street arose as a tree-lined drainage canal between Collect Pond and the Hudson River.  In 1805 the City decided to drain the pond because its water had become polluted by industrial waste.  From the NYPL Digital Archives, here is a photograph of Canal Street in 1826. 

Image: Perspective view of Canal Street, 1826, print screen from NYPL Digital Gallery (source)

Were the trees American elms?  That streetscape was restorative in contrast to Canal Street today (see below).

Image: Canal Street facing south towards Lafayette

The sixty-foot deep spring-fed pond was used for picnics, ice skating, and one of "the first experimental steamboats" was launched there.  After the pond was drained, the site was filled with soil from an adjacent hill.

Image: Collect Pond, 1796, print screen from NYPL Digital Gallery (source)

Image: Map of the collect, 1887, print screen from NYPL Digital Gallery (source)

The neighborhood of Paradise Square grew on the site but began to sink due to the area's high water table.  Also, the neighborhood began to smell.  Wealthy residents moved out of the area beginning in the 1820s and a decade later the area had become the infamous Five Points neighborhood.  In April 1960, what was once the site of the pond was transferred to NYC Parks and during the tenure of Commission Henry Stern, the park's name was changed from Civil Court Park to Collect Pond Park.  The park is bounded by Lafayette, Leonard, and Streets.

On a recent mid-afternoon, I was surprised by the appearance of the park given its central location among several government buildings.  The ground was covered with litter and the understory landscape was dominated by concrete, patchy grass and weeds, and bare soil.  Despite these environmental conditions, I observed many and different types of users taking advantage of the numerous benches located under the shady tree canopy.

Collect Pond Park is due for a redesign, according to the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center website.  Here is an excerpt from the website:

[P]ark designers envision the new park as both a sunny lunch spot and a reminder of Manhattan's densely wooded past. The park will be surrounded by shade trees, with a large lawn in the center of the lot and tables along the northern and eastern edges. At the south end of the space, where the parking lot now sits, the Parks Department will place thick beds of ferns and other woodland plants. Water misters will be imbedded in the plantings, making the surrounding air feel wetter and cooler. The park will be enclosed by a four-foot fence and lampposts and will be locked at night.

Will the "water misters" tell the history of the park's former aquatic ecology?  An illustration of the proposed design is available at wirednewyork.com.

At play in Washington Square Park

This is the inaugural post in an occasional series about playgrounds.  The reviews are based on visits to playgrounds accompanied by a 16 to 24 month old child.  We consider the following factors in our assessment: sun/shade, seating, water, safety, and cleanliness.

Washington Square Park has two playgrounds.  (According to the WSP Reconstruction Parks web page, a third play area will be constructed to incorporate the former "mounds.")  The smaller of the two is ideal for crawlers, new walkers, and small numbers of children and adults while the larger playground in the northeast quadrant of the park can accommodate more people and a wider variety of ages and abilities.  The latter is the subject of this review.  The northeast playground was closed for over a year for renovations.  While it re-opened without official fanfare after the Memorial Day 2011 weekend, the surrounding community of children and adults rejoiced!

The playground has a sandbox, three play structures, an enclosed swing area, water fountains, a splash pad, and seating.  Our  youngster enjoys the "sandbox" - it has an amoeba-like shape.  It is a generous space and is shaded all day by large planetrees so he stays cool.  The park's perimeter fence is adjacent to the northern and western edges of the sandbox and youngster likes to spend some of his downtime peering at the fountains through the bars . 

Also, the concrete base of the fence provides a nice seat.  The sandbox is large enough for several groups of children to play in without overlapping but since it is a popular feature, there are many opportunities to play with others.  The sandbox wraps around the main play structure and its four slides deposit sliders into the sand. It is fun to land in soft sand and perhaps safer, too.  Finally, the sand lot has a generous sand table.

The secondary play structure has a cargo net and stepped and coiled climbers to encourage a variety of climbing and climbers.  Youngster is intrigued by the cargo net and has scaled it a few times.  He uses the tertiary structure - designed for crawlers and new walkers - the least often, though he regained his confidence for slides by using the short, shallow slide on this structure.

The swing area is geared towards older, able-bodied children.  Of the six swings, one is an adaptive swing and one is a bucket swing.  Youngster is often too busy to sit and swing.

There is a lot of water in the playground: two drinking fountains and a splash pad with a spray ring and three concrete turtles that release fine mist from their mouths.  We discourage youngster from using the drinking fountains.  One fountain is partially full of standing water or wet sand.  The other one is dominated by older children -- lots of dirty hands touching the faucet.  Youngster enjoys playing in the splash pad.  The water is cooling and the design offers different types of play. Unfortunately, by the weekend, the splash pad drain is clogged with sand, leaves, and detritus.

The playground tends to be messier and dirtier during the weekend and on some weekday mornings but overall, it is one of our favorite play areas.  We like that the entrance is located on a side path and that the gate locks well.  And we do appreciate all those benches in the shade.

Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 5)

Many visitors to the city alight at this station to see the animals pictured in the friezes below. Let us know the line and station name.

More subwayana (thank you Bonnie Hull) at
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 4)
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 3)
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 2)
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 1)

Update, 9/6/2011: The dinosaurs in bronze relief pictured above are located at the American Museum of Natural History 81st Street station on the C line.  The reliefs and other works in mosaic, glass tile, ceramic tile, and granite named For Want of a Nail were created in 2000 by the collaborative team of MTA Arts for Transit and the Museum.

Stay tuned for Series No. 6.

11 recommended summer flowers for hummingbirds

My brother's gardens are in full bloom.  Every time I visit he has added new plants - ornamentals and edibles - so it is no surprise he has plans to expand them.  One of his latest additions is Heuchera sanguinea or coral bells.  It is growing among hostas in one of his shade gardens.  I told him that H. sanguinea is one of the summer flowering plants recommended for hummingbirds, according to the list compiled by Constance Casey in essay for the July 2011 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine.

Image: Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC by Dick Daniels (source)

Casey surveyed ornithologists who study hummingbirds and found that the factors to consider when selecting plants to attract hummingbirds are: (1) shape - trumpet or bell shaped plants are ideal; (2) petal form - ones that fold back and ones that are tubular deter bee landing and extraction; (3) color - shape is more important; and (4) fragrance - most birds have a poor sense of smell.

In addition to H. sanguinea, the other "summer flowers with form and food tailored for the little birds" are:

Asclepias tuberosa* (butterfly milkweed is highly rated over Buddleia)
Agastache (hummingbird mint
Campsis radicans (trumpet vine)
Fuchsia
Impatiens capensis (jewelweed)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Lonicera sempervirens (honeysuckle)
Monardia didyma (bergamot or bee balm)
Penstemon (P. parryi and P. barbatus)
Salvia (sages such as S. elegans, S. guarantica, S. clevelandii are highly rated)

Image: Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) caterpillar on A. tuberosa by Derek Ramsey (source)

* A. tuberosa is also preferred by butterflies.  It is a larval host plant for Grey Hairstreak, Monarch, Queen and is threatened and endangered in several Northeastern states.

Then & Now: Flatiron Building

I have always known the Flatiron Building in New York City was famous but I did not know the reason for its reknown until I read the Madison Square District entry in The WPA Guide to New York City: The Federal Writers’ Project Guide to 1930s New York (1992 (1939)).

Image: Flatiron Building, screen capture from NYPL Digital Gallery (source)

Here is the entry:

In the acute-angled triangle made by the scissors-like intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, at twenty-third Street, is the old twenty-one-story FLATIRON BUILDING, completed in 1902 from plans by D. H. Burnham and Company. Its exterior walls as well as floors are supported at each story by the steel frame. This was a logical advance over the structural system used in the World Building on Park Row. Previously, the area of the base and the thickness of the exterior walls were the main technical factors in determining the height of a building; the development of the new principle made possible greater heights.

Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 4)

Have you spotted these ocular friezes?  Let us know the line and station.

More subwayana (thank you Bonnie Hull) at
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 3)
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 2)
Where in NYC? (Subway Series, No. 1)

Update, 7/13/2011: These mosaics were photographed at the Chambers Street (World Trade Center) A/C/E station.  Appropriately named Oculus, the mosaics, created by Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel in 1998, are based on "the eyes of three hundred individual New Yorkers translated from a photographic study" by the artists, according to nycsubway.org.  Learn more about the artists at http://www.jonesginzel.com.  Stay tuned for Series No. 5.