Washington Square Park

Located between University Place on the East, Waverly to the north, MacDougal to the West, and 4th to the south. The park today is a far cry from its original incarnation. Before it became a park, Washington Square was Manhattan's Potter's Field. God knows if they removed the bodies when the fashionable moved into the neighborhood. The supposed hanging tree still stands on the west side of the park. Since then, the park has seen many a thing from riots to the raising of the arch. It is now the domain of NYU students who use it as an informal quad. On the weekends and in the summer one can find a multitude of street performers and musicians plying their trade or just hanging out and enjoying the day. One word of not: don't buy drugs here. WSP has been known to be the land of the bust. And since the park rangers have moved in, the drug trade has moved to the side streets. Save your money: their trade isn't that good.

Commentary by Heather Babb, Monday, January 25, 1998.