Washington Square Park Coordinator

I have to admit that when Rebecca Ferguson came to our class to talk about the construction on Washington Square Park and all of the organization required to run even a relatively smaller park I did not think that I was going to be very interested in what she had to say. I had reviewed the bio which Professor Smith-Howard had emailed us prior to attending class but I thought how much could one possibly have to say about the job description of coordinating the activities and the construction on the square? During class I realized just how much work and effort go into maintaining a beautiful and well run park such as Washington Square Park.

Prior to this class, I knew just how unique of a park Washington Square Park is from all of the reading that we had done, but most of what we had been reading about was on the history of the park. Luckily, I found it to be just as interesting, if not more so, to learn about the present state of the park from Ms. Ferguson. I never realized just how detail oriented one must be to orchestrate and create/maintain a peaceful and welcoming public space. Being that Washington Square Park is open to the public and has an obligation to cater to the inevitable diversity of its users, it becomes increasingly complicated for someone such as Rebecca to adequately accommodate all those who wish to use the space. She consistently has to take into consideration the people who live and work on the borders of the park as well as the students who use it during the day and the kids who play in the playground and the dog walkers who use the dog run and the runners and even the homeless who often use the park as a surrogate home. Honestly, after she spoke to us it seemed as though her job was never ending.

Although there is always something going on in the park no matter the weather or the season, the one thing which a person can hopefully always count on is the fact that the park will always be there. The construction currently being done in the park may alter the original appearance but I think that if anything the park has always been a place where change is welcome and even encouraged. Whether the change which I speak of is in the political realm or the musical realm it does not matter. The important thing is that there will always be a Washington Square Park which is able to facilitate such social change. I think what I learned most from Rebecca Ferguson and the things which she discussed in class is how important it is for there to be people like herself who are willing to put the necessary amount of time and effort into preserving the quality of the park so that in the years to come Washington Square Park will remain an epicenter in New York City for culture as well as a space to enjoy the more simple things in life.