Spring Street Park

There's a large triangle at Spring Street and Sixth Avenue that I always think of as Christmas Tree Park because years ago a Christmas tree vendor would set up shop there. Once called, variously, Soho Square and Hudson Square Plaza, in 2018 it reopened after a $5.5 million renovation under the name Spring Street Park.

As most New Yorkers know, Sixth Avenue in Manhattan has two names. In 1945 the city, under Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, designated the busy thoroughfare "Avenue of the Americas," "to honor pan-American ideals and principles" and perhaps in recognition of the selection of New York City as the home of the United Nations.

The name never totally caught on; some buildings and businesses use it, others don't. But either way, Spring Street Park houses one of six statues of Latin American heroes erected along the Avenue.

Here, then, is a backlit General José Artigas (1764-1850), the Uruguayan independence hero.

The original cast of the statue, by José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (1891-1975), has stood in Montevideo for the past 75 years.

Facing north, toward the wide end of the triangle:

And facing south:

The unusual backless benches (with under-bench lighting) and squarish metal swivel chairs are interesting features.

Another are the "moonlighting" lamps, atop tall posts, intended to create a moonlight effect in the light and shadows on the ground.

Plain old London plane trees, among the thousands throughout the city, dominate the canopy, but not exclusively.

The renovation also included, according to DNAInfo, "anti-flooding infrastructure allowing the absorption of 1,140 percent more storm water."

My reason for walking through Spring Street Park is almost always because it's just around the corner from HERE Arts Center, where I've seen many shows (including some great puppet theater) over the years. But if puppets aren't your bag, maybe you're in the market for a Ducati racing motorcycle.

Where better to race noisy bikes, after all, than down Avenue of the Americas with its verdant parks and wide-open lanes?

I'm kidding, of course. But a walk along lower Sixth Avenue repays the urban adventurer seeking a bit of respite from the city's craziness.

All photos © Oren Hope except where noted