Washington Square Park

The Daily Plant : Tuesday, December 24, 2002

PARKS INDEX - END-OF-THE-YEAR ROUND-UP

Number of miles of coastline that surround Manhattan: 26

Number of synthetic turf fields built in 2001 and 2002, combined: 6

Number of fields funded for future synthetic turf development: 16

Number of employees in Parks & Recreation’s temporary workforce who have been placed in full-time jobs for 2003: 477

Percentage of these employees whose jobs are in the private sector: 80

Number of water fountains and spray showers that were renovated in 2002: 160

Percentage of comfort stations open in fiscal year 2002: 58

Percentage of comfort stations open in fiscal year 2003 (so far): 76

Number of comfort stations that were either landscaped or renovated: 31

Number of comfort stations currently being landscaped or renovated: 35

Number of lifeguards recruited by Parks & Recreation in 2001: 901

Number of international lifeguards recruited by Parks & Recreation in 2001: 0

Number of lifeguards recruited by Parks & Recreation in 2002: 984

Number of international lifeguards recruited in 2002: 37

Age range of children who participated in Parks & Recreation’s "Tweens Program": 11-15

Number of children who participated in Parks & Recreation new "Tweens Program": 350

Number of Parkies who participated in horticultural training courses in 2002: 171

Number of daffodils planted for The Daffodil Project 2002: 500,000

Total number of daffodils planted in the past two years: 2 million

Total dollar amount of corporate donations given to Parks & Recreation in 2002: $2 million

Number of inspections performed in 2001: 4,200

Number of inspections performed in 2002: about 5,000

Percentage of Parks & Recreation out-of-service vehicle rate for 2002: 4.7

Rank of Parks & Recreation out-of-service vehicle rate compared with other City agencies: 1

Number of bald eagles released in Inwood Hill Park in the summer of 2002: 4

Number of ways in which one can now acquire a Parks & Recreation permit: 3

Today, a glimpse of Washington Square Park in the summer. This is from Mary Cantwell’s memoir, Manhattan, When I Was Young. It was published in 1995.

"That day and many days thereafter I took my daughter to Washington Square, to the Southeast corner, where a big sycamore that I came to call the baby tree spread its branches over a large, grubby sandpit. A certain kind of Village mother spent hours there, offering chunks of raw potato to her teething child."

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."

(1694-1778)