Freedom Tower admires Washington Square Park at a distance. Photo @lucascompan
Advice for parents before going with kids to Washington Square Park: if the weather is warm, dress the little ones in their swimmies – because it will be difficult to keep them out of the fountain on hot days.
The hippies who famously turned up and tuned out in Washington Square Park are still there in spirit, once in a while, often in person. In warmer months the park—which was once a potter’s field—is one of the best people-watching spots in the city, hummings with musicians and street artists, while skateboarders clatter near the base of the iconic 1895 Washington Arch (a modest replica of Paris’s Arc de Triomphe). Standing at the north side of the park, Washington Square Arch was dedicated on May 4, 1895, to George Washington as the first president of the United States. The arch has stood in this spot for over 100 years presiding over the park’s colorful and ever evolving culture and history.