Sorry Rev, The City Don't Care About Them Bones

Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, minister at the Judson Church, is shocked—shocked—that the City Parks Department is not caring better for the human bones being uncovered by the unpopular renovation of Washington Square Park.

"I don’t take the word ‘desecration’ lightly, but that is what is happening here," she told Metro. "They should stop disturbing the dead. The city is disrespecting the community again." Well, yes, and yes, Rev. But are you surprised? What City agency that has anything to do with real estate town has recently shown respect for the people's will? None I know of. Certainly not the Parks Dept., which thinks we need a KFC or something at Red Hook Park, and supports the for-commerce parading of stupid pet tricks at Bryant Park.

Jonathan Greenberg, who has fought the city’s plan with two lawsuits, noted that, regarding the skeletons, "There was no sifting of sand, no photographs being taken, no archaeologist looking at soil." And there ain't gonna be, dude! Those bones can't vote! And they're messy and nasty and old and don't fit in with Bloomberg's neato vision of the City.

Now, if we could broker a deal with Cemusa to create some sleek-looking, "street furniture" graves and crypts—now we're talking! That's the kind of respect for the dead that City Hall can get behind!

Digging Up the Past

Call me a ghoul, but I think it's totally cool that city archaeologists, doing soil testing for a planned restoration of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, have uncovered skeletal remains, possibly centuries old.

One of the greatest things about Washington Square Park, in my opinion, is the fact that it has played host to some of the most grisly activities that Gotham ever got up to. From 1797 to 1826, it was a potter's field, filled up with the bodies of all those New Yorkers nobody else would or cared to lay claim to. There are 20,000 souls under that bohemian soil, folks, most of them dead from yellow fever, which struck NYC hard in the early 1800s. It was also popular as a dueling ground, which I guess was convenient, since the losing party could simply tumble into an open common grave and shake off this mortal coil all the easier.

But, wait! There's more! The park was also Manhattan's favorite hanging grounds. The big old elm near the northeast corner was known as The Hangman's Elm. (Some dispute the tree's morbid status, saying it was part of a nearby farm at the time.) The events were super popular with the locals, who would build a picnic around whatever's convicts death. In 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette was treated as honored guest at the hanging of 20 highwaymen. That must have been fun for the Frenchie!

It gets creepier. In 1825, the park was converted into the Washington Military Parade Grounds. Trouble was, as the troops marched back and forth across the square, they kept sinking their feet into the shallow pauper's graves of yesteryear. That may be why it was made into a park soon after.

For those who oppose the coming redesign of WSP, there is a silver lining in this news. If they discover a sufficient amount of skeletons, historians may call for the construction to halt indefinitely.

(I thank The Bowery Boys for the picture.)