Tag Archives: Washington Square Park
Teaching martial arts, creating community
By Arianna George Clouds of dust rise into the air from a sandpit across from the Washington Square Fountain. Exchanging blows and throwing kicks as they spar, members of the NYC Fight Club stir up that haze. What began three years ago as a search for a place where Martin Cheung, 35, the fight club’s […]
For the love of chess and, sometimes, money
By Sarah Levine The younger man bounded down the four steps to the basement of a Tenth Street brownstone, punching a secret password into the keypad. Its green checkmark flashed. The older man opened the door and waved him inside. Four hundred dollars was that Tuesday night’s prize at the Marshall Masters Chess Club. Somewhere […]
Finding community on a chessboard
By Yifei Kevin Niu Brett Fisher and MJ were locked in a game of chess that July afternoon, sitting on wooden benches beneath a Hangman’s Elm in Washington Square Park, the steady hum of New York City in the background as each move brings one of them closer to the $5 prize. That local hotspot […]
From selling weed to peddling roses
By Madison Kim A white industrial bucket holds an assortment of fox tails, honeycombs and purple mists. Two green planters hold cat tails, daisies and pink panthers, wildflowers sourced from a friend’s farm in New Jersey. These things Martin Fritsche sells to NYU students and other steady customers. “I’ve seen him around the area while […]
Crocheting, life-coaching from a park bench
By Laiba Lakhani At 9 o’clock on most mornings, he said, Bob Matthews sits on the same bench in Washington Square Park, just northeast of where the park’s stone walkway veers toward West Fourth Street. He pulls his pink and green needles from the crocheted hat, made from recycled material, covering his dreadlocks. “Crochet is […]
Weed sales soar on sidewalks, in storefronts
By Abraham Dume As Jonathan Perez, 28, sees it, his sales of cannabis gummies, cookies, cereal and other sweet treats and of pre-rolled marijuana joints, selling for $10 each, is a community service. “We’ve saved lives … Ever since we’ve come here there’s been more peace and harmony in this park,” said Perez, offering his […]