Imagined place
Fountain, trees, flowers and benches could describe any park. So what is it that makes Washington Square Park different? What takes all those people back there? For some it might be only because it’s near their house or that its big enough to walk around, or just simply because they want to grab something to eat.
For others it’s different. Jason was 19 when he first got into playing chess. He used to come to the park to watch people play. He mentions a stone wall missing behind the chess tables, but for him what is really missing is people who come for the game. He thinks this part of the park has become a place for others like him to earn some money. Overall you might find a couple of places around the city to play chess but for him “Any square table with black and white squares doesn’t make it a chess table”
Some prefer the park at night, they say its more “meaningful”, but I think its just more “peaceful” knowing that there aren’t many policemen. There is this other guy usually sitting at the northern side of the park. He is a regular. He likes sleeping at the park and sitting around during the day, not doing much. Being there for a while, he remembers the arch being further away from the fountain. For him that’s the biggest change.
It doesn’t matter if you are only sitting at the park to watch leafs fall from the trees, or to stare at people passing; you would experience something different once you start coming back often. It’s not the same feeling as others passing by once a while. It seems like knowing something as small as the fact that they have added more benches to the park in the past couple of years, gives you a sense of belonging to that place, which might be the same reason some keep on going back.
