Zuccotti Park

Coordinates: 40°42′34″N 74°00′41″W / 40.709385°N 74.011323°W / 40.709385; -74.011323
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40°42′34″N 74°00′41″W / 40.709385°N 74.011323°W / 40.709385; -74.011323

Zuccotti Park
The plaza of Zuccotti Park
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TypePlaza
LocationNew York City, United States
Area33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2)
Created1968 (1968)
EtymologyNamed after John E. Zuccotti, Brookfield Office Properties CEO
Operated byBrookfield Office Properties
StatusOpen all year

Zuccotti Park, formerly called Liberty Plaza Park, is a 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) publicly accessible park in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is a Privately-Owned-Public-Space (POPS) controlled by Brookfield Properties.[1] The park was created in 1968 by United States Steel, after the property owners negotiated its creation with city officials, and named Liberty Plaza Park and situated beside One Liberty Plaza. It is located between Broadway, Trinity Place, Liberty Street and Cedar Street. The park's northwest corner is across the street from Four World Trade Center. It has been popular with local tourists and financial workers.

The park was heavily damaged in the September 11 attacks and subsequent recovery efforts of 2001. The plaza was later used as the site of several events commemorating the anniversary of the attacks. After renovations in 2006, the park was renamed by its current owners, Brookfield Office Properties, after company chairman John Zuccotti.

In 2011, the plaza became the site of the Occupy Wall Street protest camp. During the demonstration, activists were occupying the plaza and using it as a staging ground for protests throughout the Manhattan Financial District.

Park history

Creation and early background

The park, formerly called Liberty Plaza Park, was created in 1968 by United States Steel in return for a height bonus for its adjacent headquarters at the time of its construction. That building is now known as One Liberty Plaza.[2][3]

The park was one of the few open spaces with tables and seats in the Financial District. Located one block from the World Trade Center, it was covered with debris, and was subsequently used as a staging area for the recovery efforts after the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.[4] As part of the Lower Manhattan rebuilding efforts, the park was regraded, trees were planted, and the tables and seating restored.[3]

Post-September 11 reconstruction

On June 1, 2006, the park reopened after an $8 million renovation designed by Cooper, Robertson & Partners. It was renamed Zuccotti Park in honor of John E. Zuccotti, former City Planning Commission chairman and first deputy mayor under Abe Beame and now the chairman of Brookfield Properties,[5] which used private money to renovate the park. Currently, the park has a wide variety of trees, granite sidewalks, tables and seats, as well as lights built into the ground, which illuminate the area.

A sculpture of a seated businessman, Double Check, was removed during the reconstruction period, but was returned in 2006.[6] It was joined by Joie de Vivre, a 70-foot-tall abstract sculpture.[7]

Given its proximity to Ground Zero, Zuccotti Park is a popular tourist destination. The World Trade Center cross, which was previously housed at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, was featured in a ceremony held in Zuccotti Park before it was moved to the the 9/11 Memorial.[8]

Occupy Wall Street

Beginning on September 17, 2011, Zuccotti Park was occupied by protesters and dubbed "Liberty Park".[9]
Main article: Occupy Wall Street

On September 17, 2011, the "Occupy Wall Street" protest began using Zuccotti Park as a campground and staging area for their actions.[10] Some of the protesters displayed a placard welcoming visitors to "Liberty Park",[11] an informal return to a version of the park's original name. The organizers had originally planned to occupy One Chase Manhattan Plaza, but the plaza was closed.[12]

Because Zuccotti Park is not a publicly owned space, it is not subject to ordinary public park curfew. New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said on September 28, 2011, that the NYPD could not bar protesters from Zuccotti Park since it is a public plaza that is required to stay open 24 hours a day. "In building this plaza, there was an agreement it be open 24 hours a day," Kelly said. "The owners have put out regulations [about what's allowed in park]. The owners will have to come in and direct people not to do certain things." A spokesperson for Brookfield Properties, the owner of the park, expressed concern: "Zuccotti Park is intended for the use and enjoyment of the general public for passive recreation. We are extremely concerned with the conditions that have been created by those currently occupying the park and are actively working with the City of New York to address these conditions and restore the park to its intended purpose."[13]

On October 6, 2011, it was reported that Brookfield Office Properties, which owns Zuccotti Park, had issued a statement which said, "Sanitation is a growing concern ... Normally the park is cleaned and inspected every weeknight... because the protestors refuse to cooperate ... the park has not been cleaned since Friday, September 16th and as a result, sanitary conditions have reached unacceptable levels."[14] To protect and clean the park, protesters volunteered to sweep the areas of the plaza and posted signs urging each other to avoid damaging the flower beds.[15]

Starting at roughly 1 a.m. local time on November 15, NYPD began clearing Zucotti Park.[16][17] Later that morning, at 6:30am, the National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order which allowed the protesters to return to the site and gives them the ability to ignore park rules which were enacted after the occupation initially began.[18][19]

Park sculptures

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Zuccotti Park is home to two sculptures, including Mark di Suvero's Joie de Vivre, seen here

The park is home to two sculptures: Joie de Vivre by Mark di Suvero and Double Check, a bronze businessman sitting on a bench, by John Seward Johnson II.[6][20][4][21]

Joie de Vivre, a 70-foot-tall sculpture consisting of bright-red beams, was installed in Zuccotti Park in 2006, having been moved from its previous installation in the Storm King Art Center. Benjamin Genocchio, an Australian art critic, commented that the sculpture suited the location, "nicely echoing the skyscrapers around it."[7]

See also

flag New York City portal

References

Notes
  1. ^ "Privately Owned Public Space". New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  2. ^ Roberts, Sam (October 5, 2011). "A Public Servant Whose Name Is Now on Protesters' Lips". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  3. ^ a b "Liberty Plaza Construction to Begin this Spring". Battery Park City Broadsheet. Jan 21, 2004. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  4. ^ a b "Brookfield Properties Re-Opens Lower Manhattan Park Following $8 Million Renovation" (Press release). June 1, 2006. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
  5. ^ Colford, Paul D. (June 2, 2006). "Park Honor for Ex-City Official". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  6. ^ a b "Zuccotti Park Opens at Broadway and Liberty Street". Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. June 1, 2006. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  7. ^ a b Genocchio, Benjamin (June 23, 2006). "Works of a Major Player In Macho Sculpture". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  8. ^ "WTC Cross' is Installed in 9/11 Memorial Museum". July 23, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  9. ^ Scola, Nancy (October 5, 2011). "For the Anti-corporate Occupy Wall street demonstrators, the semi-corporate status of Zuccotti Park may be a boon". Capitalnewyork.com. Capital New York Media Group, Inc. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  10. ^ Moynihan, Clive (September 19, 2011). "Wall Street Protests Continue, With at Least 6 Arrested". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  11. ^ Moynihan, Clive (September 27, 2011). "Park Gives Wall St. Protesters a Place to Call Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  12. ^ Pepitone, Juliane (September 16, 2011). "Thousands of protesters to 'Occupy Wall Street' on Saturday". CNN. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  13. ^ Fractenberg, Ben (September 28, 2011). "Zuccotti Park Can't Be Closed to Wall Street Protesters, NYPD Says". DNA Info. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  14. ^ "Protesters To Be 'Met With Force' If They Target Officers". CBS News. October 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  15. ^ "Occupy Wall Street Protesters Leave Washington Square Park, Return To Zuccotti Park". Cbslocal.com. CBS Broadcasting Inc. October 8, 2011.
  16. ^ "Police Begin Clearing Zuccotti Park of Protester". The New York Times. November 14, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  17. ^ "Police move in to evict Occupy protesters from New York park". CNN. November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  18. ^ "Zuccotti Park Eviction: Court Order Against City Says Protesters Can Return With Tents In Tow". Huffington Post. November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  19. ^ "Order Re Liberty Park".
  20. ^ "Liberty Plaza Park Turns Over a New Leaf". Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. July 25, 2005. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  21. ^ Dunlap, David W. (June 1, 2006). "Back at His Bench Downtown, Having Survived 9/11". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-13.

External links

Template:Anti-government protests in the 21st century

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