Washington Square Park: Free love and relationship advice

Washington Square Park is an eclectic, wondrous place. There have to be reports on some of the positive things, right?  So, here we go…

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Washington Square News (NYU’s daily newspaper) has its own blogger, Life of Alvin. Alvin reports that last Sunday, on the southern side of the Park, a man appeared with a sign that said “Free love and relationship advice.”

Here’s an excerpt of Life of Alvin’s report back:

On Sunday, a man sat on the southern side of Washington Square Park with a cardboard sign that read: “Free love and relationship advice.” A handful of people waited patiently to speak to him, almost as if he had something important to offer.

I thought many people would talk to him for fun, not as a serious act of seeking advice. But I was wrong.

The one guy who sat across from this self-professed love expert clung to his every word. I tried to read lips, but I’ve never been too good at that so I settled for reading his facial expressions. It went from pouting to smiles back to pouting. It was almost as if this man was a puppeteer, changing the motions of his patrons with a twitch of his tongue.

I thought about approaching him, but I was afraid he would look at me and say, “Kid, I’m going to have to charge you money. You’ve got issues to sort through.”

(I tried to link to Life of Alvin but the linking was not working. Sorry!)

Did anyone talk to him? Witness this? Would love to hear some report backs.

I’ve often thought it would be worth sitting at the Park with a sign that says “Tell me what you think of Washington Square Park’s ‘renovation.’” Maybe that’ll be next. In the meantime… people can find “love and relationship advice” on a random Sunday at Washington Square Park, a place where you never know what will happen next.

The magical park

Someone referred to Washington Square Park as “magical.” It took me awhile to see that. Certainly, I’d been to Washington Square Park over the years. I’d sat and listened to music or watched strange happenings within the fountain. I’d marveled at the almost laid back ’60’s bohemian feeling it retained which co-existed amongst college students, chess players, old-timers, newbies, dog walkers, families, tourists. Every type person coexists and intermingles within Washington Square Park.

My renewed interest in the Park — in relation to the massive changes and radical overhaul the City has planned for it — occurred late last year out of concern for the cutting down of the trees and what that would mean for the wildlife in the Park. I then realized what was going to be ‘taken away’ by these mysterious, suddenly “necessary” changes — changes that would affect the whole essence of the Park — the things that make it work… those inexplicable factors which make it such a special place for so many people. To want to change that seemed to me an extension of the long arm of gentrification and homogenization of our city(by our current Mayor, Mayor Bloomberg).

Then, it became even more important to oppose these changes. This is my attempt to document what I’ve learned in a short time and share that information.