A Brighter Washington Square Park For 2021

In January, the WSA met with new park administrator William Morrison. He outlined several of his challenges and strategic foci for 2021. One area where we decided to partner together was around the lighting in Washington Square Park. It turns out that at the time, there were over 37 lights out (see the diagram below).

Working With Community Organizations To Fix The Lights

Unfortunately, this was beyond the scope of the Parks Department and instead had to do with infrastructure managed by the Department of Transportation (DOT). We agreed to help partner with DOT to help prioritize this much needed work. While a light bulb out at home is an annoyance, so many lights out in the park created both unpleasant and dangerous conditions, especially amidst budget cuts to the NYPD to monitor the park.

Here are a couple examples of poor lighting in the park that we documented and socialized to our government contacts at the DOT.

We are proud to report that last month the maintenance work was finally prioritized, with thanks especially to NYC Parks Commissioner Bill Castro, whom Will Morrison had been working with closely on the matter and to State Senator Brad Hoylman, who spoke at our holiday tree lighting, who called every week to get an update on the project. Now as Spring has sprung in the park, the park lights are now operational.

Next Steps On Lighting And Crime

The job isn’t complete yet. Two of the lights are still out. Many of the lights in the park are still too dim and need to be replaced to give the proper lighting our park very much needs. Additionally, we are actively networking with local community groups to address the continued criminal element in the Northwest corner of the park, recent criminal behavior at night including clashes with the NYPD, as well as homelessness generally. Expect more news in the coming months on our activities. In the meantime, enjoy a brighter Washington Square Park at night.