The Three Hills

A play-in protest calling to protect and preserve Washington Square Park's Three Hills, also known as "The Mounds"

A Brief History of The Mounds:

Robert B. Nichols was the lead architect in the team that created the much-loved, well-utilized, and sadly, now absent recessed central plaza known as the Fountain Theater, a casualty of the new design of Washington Square Park.

Nichols also designed a play feature known familiarly as "The Mounds", a family of three five-foot-tall hills nestled in the southwest corner of the park.

The Parks Department ordered the wrong surfacing when they were first constructed. That surfacing quickly wore away under thousands of joyful footsteps that danced across them daily. About a decade later, Nichols got a frantic phone call when workers were about to cover them in asphalt (they hadnt consulted the plans!). Nichols rushed over to stop them and was threatened by the Parks Department. Eventually, Tony Dapolito persuaded the Parks Department that they had made a mistake, and Nichols was exonerated. Nevertheless, the Parks Department's error, the asphalt, remains to this day.

Nichols' daughter, Eliza said, "(NYC Parks) Commissioner Benepe told me that Parks wanted people to see the mounds as eyesores ... and former Commissioner Henry Stern who is a family friend corroborated it.

Parks fenced off the 3 hills in the hopes that once a generation had grown up not using them, the parents would no longer fight for them at community meetings. Parks put RAT POISON signs around the mounds so that parents would think they were dirty and rat invested. Parents had an independent expert come to investigate. He explained to the Parks Dept. that rats were running rampant in other parts of the park but not more so in the mounds area.

Parks came up with a plan to pit dog owners against parents by promising the small dog owners that they could have a dog run in place of the mounds. The tactic backfired when dog owners and play ground advocates joined together to oppose the Vellonakis plan to enclose the park with a high iron fence, flatten it out, drive up the costs by moving the fountain, move a perfectly good dog run out of the park and close to the street, and cut down trees that were perfectly healthy. Parks and Vellonakis ignored the majority of users and cynically tried to paint anyone who opposed the plan as Village Crazies.

The reason Alan Gerson drew up a written agreement was because Parks kept ignoring Gersons consituents. The written agreement inlcudes keeping the mounds and restoring them. Alan Gerson told me recently that the parks dept plans do not contain the mounds. When asked about this, NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said they expected that people had forgotten about them, implying that they would be razed and not rebuilt."

Recently, Washington Square Park Administrator Rebecca Ferguson (the first administrator in WSP's history!) tagged along on Cathryn Swan's walking tour of the park. When Cathryn mentioned the protected status of the Mounds under the Gerson-Quinn agreement, Ferguson chimed in, encouraging anybody who might not like them to write letters saying as much.

My experience:

From the the outside, the Mounds are rather unspectacular, a minimalist sine wave tracing along one of the walking paths. But once inside, another world opens up: The humble five-foot elevation affords a grand perspective on the park, and protected within the three hills is a landscape that beckons the imagination.

For more information about the Mounds, please visit Cathryn Swan's excellent and informative blog:
http://washingtonsquarepark.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/whats-up-with-the-mounds...

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• NYC
• Greenwich
• Village
• Washington
• Square
• Park
• Matt
• Davis
• Doris
• Diether
• Alan
• Gerson
• George
• Vellonakis
• Children
• Play

[JordanPounds]

It is truly a shame that the three hills are gone now. My father designed and led the restoration of the Washington Square Arch and would take me to Washington Square Park throughout my childhood. I miss the playground and the hills that have now been demolished. What has been done to Washington Square Park is an absolute tragedy. It is hard to believe that this actually happened.

[H215]

Interesting. Yes, why does the Parks Dept want to get rid of them? Has it been suggested that they create new topographic forms in the new layout?

[VanishingNewYork]

It might be good to post in a comment where people's voices can be heard.

What has been done to Wash. Sq Park is a great example of why we should not let Bloomberg get in again as mayor. See this guys other films about WSP. Great illustration and explanation of...

[marianaverkerk]

The Parks Dept however wants to make Wash Sq Park a showacase instead of a place that will be used by the people. There is no place to run for kids in the Park. Over 2000 people from the neighborhood signed a competition in support of the mounds but the Parks Dept is not listening so if you think the kids in the neighborhood should have a place to play: SPEAK UP

[vegangelic]

I knew the Parks Department was trying to get rid of the musicians, but now they want to chase away the CHILDREN, too?

Why does the Parks Department want to get rid of the Three Hills? Because they're there.