Mourning in Washington Square Park
The battles have been fought, now its time to mourn. Yesterday, Jonathan Greenberg of the [Open Washington Square Park Coalition] sent an email to round up folks to mourn the park today, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m.
It is with frustration and remorse that I write to inform you of a memorial service for the spirit of Washington Square Park It is time to say goodbye to a Washington Square Park experience that has meant so much to so many of us. Please bring a candle this Wednesday and join us for a peaceful candlelight farewell. There will be no speeches, no amplifiers, no civil disobedience or arrests. We hope to just have a circle with candles; a farewell vigil for a half hour or so around the fountain or arch.
We were looking for the irony in the statement, but couldnt find it. Perhaps it is indeed dead, but earnestness isn't. Admittedly, its praiseworthy to care so much to organize a demonstration to mark the failure of a civic standoff, but it does seem a bit insensitive to go to such lengths to stage a memorial for a park, when there are how many hundreds of thousands dying in a U.S.-backed war? Or maybe we're not supposed to think that way and stay focused on our own backyard and problems closer to home.
To put it all into perspective, New York magazine includes the entire saga as No. 49 in their Reasons to Love New York Now issue under [Because People Will Argue About Anything]. After the final [dismissal of a suit to halt construction](http://nypress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=37099858) in the park by a Supreme Court judge, looks like the park will now begin years of reconstructive surgery. Reason to be irritated? Yes. Reason to mourn? Well, get your candle and join the circle tonight.