Zuccotti Park

This is one of those parks that can get so clogged with people, it's hard to see there's a park at all underneath all that human flesh. But you can still manage to make out the contours of Zuccotti Park, formerly called Liberty Plaza Park and recently renamed after after the real estate baron who financed its renovation after it was drowned in 9-11 debris. (The park is catty-corner to what we are no longer calling Ground Zero.)

Re-opened in 2006, the park is much greener than in its previous incarnation, with over 50 trees on just three quarters of an acre.



The big red sculpture is Joie de Vivre by noted sculptor Mark di Suvero, who just happens to be married to New York City's Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

According to Wikipedia, di Suvero was born Marco Polo Levy in Shanghai, China—a much more interesting if less musical-sounding moniker if you ask me. (No one asked me, but it's my blog.)

Looks kind of like something you ought to be able to climb on, if you ask me (no one asked me, but, well, you know). Anyway, if you can find a place to sit, Zuccotti Park is a nice lower Manhattan break from the skyscrapers and traffic. Here are some flowers in late spring:



And the same oval in early autumn: