Judson Memorial Church

Although I wasn't able to visit Judson Memorial Church with our class, I was introduced to the place by a cover article in the NYU newspaper, the Washington Square News. The feature, published on April 14, 2008, was about Jean Montrevil's deportation threat and how he has found sanctuary in the church. In brief, Jean may be sent back to Haiti any day because of his history with cocaine (and possible distribution) in the US. The title is great: Finding sanctuary on Wash. Sq. South, and it evokes those Village figures who also looked to the park for safety and comfort. Jean says of JMC: "They give you a voice, an advocate's voice." This article seems to evidence a historically and culturally important characteristic of WSP, and I'm glad to see it still lives today.

But I found most interesting the reporter, Joseph Yerardi. Despite his role as a journalist - that is, as an objective reporter of news - he dropped a questionable judgement; he said, in regards to Jean's markless record since he left prison, 'It seemed as if he had been given a second chance at living an honest life, and he took it. His record since then has been clean; he received his GED and began a family with Jani, a substitute teacher from Brooklyn.' Well, it seems to me that Mr. Yerardi is straight and taut as an arrow. Good for him. And I'm glad he said this because he's raised the question of who's behind the news, and he's pointed to the glaring difference between the university reporting culture vs. the culture that keeps alive the park's inherently embracive spirit. Now, I understand the narrowness of this representative binary. I understand that both men have as much to do with a larger culture as they do with each other. It's merely location that they share. But isn't that what this is all about anyway? Washington Square Park as Muse and Refuge? Washington Square Park as Common Ground? Washington Square Park as Character and Incubator? Washington Square Park as Home?

In 2008, WSP is home to NYU, the center of Greenwich Village, and a crossroads of classes and cultures. On the front page of our school's newspaper (which is named after the friggin park) rests quietly a snarling tension between the comfortable American college student, and the struggling Caribbean immigrant. I have no doubt that Mr. Yerardi wasn't committed to lending voice for Jean. Why? Because he slaps on the end of his article Jean's final words, final chance at justifying his case to the the other side of the park (NYU), and fails to sufficiently contextualize this man's words.

Says Mr. Yerardi:
'Responding to potential criticisms that his deportation is simply the punishment he must receive for committing the crime he did, Montrevil is quick to point out who he believes the real victims are here.'

"You have millions of children, millions of loved ones, who are paying the price," Jean said.

The price? An extra ten bucks a G from the other guy.