http://www.WashingtonSquareParkBlog.com
<http://www.washingtonsquareparkblog.com/>
City Parks Department’s “Regulations” Take Away From the Very Spirit of
What People Come to Washington Square Park For – No Performances Allowed
Near Fountain, Benches
<http://washingtonsquareparkblog.com/2011/10/28/parks-departments-regulations-take-away-from-the-very-spirit-of-what-people-come-to-washington-square-park-for/>
October 28, 2011
At the *Occupy Washington Square Park
<http://washingtonsquareparkblog.com/2011/10/17/occupy-washington-square-welcome/>* meeting
last week, I caught the end of a comment from a woman stating that
*performers were getting ticketed more frequently at the park*. I did
not know the so-called “reason” behind this but it appears in this
week’s /Villager/ —“Musicians are told to keep their distance – from
fountain, seats!”
<http://thevillager.com/villager_444/musiciansaretold.html> :
[Doris] Diether, a member of Community Board 2 and a contributor to
this newspaper, said that *three guitar players who perform in
Washington Square told her that PEP officers told them that
performers could not play while sitting on a park bench. The rule is
that musicians must stand 5 feet from a bench and 50 feet from a
monument or fountain.*
Diether said she was hand-feeding a squirrel in the south side of
the park on Wed., Oct. 26. when a man told her, “Watch out, I got a
$50 fine for feeding squirrels here.”
Despite the common conviction that the enforcement policy in
Washington Square is stricter than ever, a Department of Parks and
Recreation spokesperson said on Wednesday that nothing is special
about the current enforcement.
“*At Washington Square Park the existing regulations are intended to
keep paths clear and allow all park users to move about freely and
see monuments and views,” said Philip Abramson. He confirmed that
performers must stand 5 feet away from benches and cannot perform
within 50 feet of a monument or fountain.
*
*This “regulation” requiring performers to stand “5 feet away from
benches” and not perform “within 50 feet of a monument or fountain”
seems to be /a rule to have a rule/, to put forth arbitrary “order” – so
people can “move about freely” and “see monuments and views” *(that last
bit sounds like George Vellonakis-speak)* – that takes away from the
very spirit that people have historically come to Washington Square Park
/for/ and what the park’s reputation and very /essence/ is all about.*
*
*
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