Bowling Green (New York City)
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Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort. It is the oldest existing public park in New York City and is known for being the location of the Charging Bull bronze sculpture.
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[edit] Description
The park is a wedge-shaped plaza, formed by the splitting of Broadway into two forks, the eastern of which becomes Whitehall Street and the western of which becomes State Street after Broadway terminates. A portion of the park is a fenced-in grassy area with tables and chairs that are popular lunchtime destinations for local workers in the nearby Financial District. As of 2006 there is a fountain and a pool.
The south end of the plaza is bounded by the front entrance of Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, which currently houses the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan Division). Previously there was a public road along the south edge of the park, also called "Bowling Green", but since this area was needed for a modern entrance to the subway station, the road was eliminated and paved over with cobblestones. If weather permits, there are official food stands in this area once or twice a week, as well as many unofficial vendors selling grey-market goods (and occasionally pirated or knockoff goods).
[edit] History
The park has long been a center of activity in the city going back to the days of New Amsterdam in the 17th century, when it served as cattle market and parade ground.
In 1733, the local government laid out a bowling green and offered it for rent to three local residents for one peppercorn a year.
In August 21, 1770, the British government erected a 4,000 pound (1,800 kg) gold-plated leaden statue in the plaza depicting King George III mounted on horseback and dressed in Roman garb in the style of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius. The statue had been commissioned in 1766, along with a statue of William Pitt, to the prominent London sculptor Joseph Wilton.
The statue was very unpopular with the public. In 1773, the city passed an anti-graffiti and anti-desecration law to counter vandalism against the monument, and a fence was built around it (which still exists as of 2006). On July 9, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read to Washington's troops at the current site of City Hall, a mob of local citizens rushed to Bowling Green where they toppled the statue. The crowns that topped sections of the surrounding fence were knocked off, as well. The event is considered one of the most enduring images in the city's history. According to folklore, the statue was chopped up and shipped to a Connecticut foundry to be made into some 40,000 Patriot bullets. Parts of the statue are preserved in the New-York Historical Society. The event has been depicted over the years in several works of art, including an 1859 painting by artist Johannes Adam Simon Oertel.
Evacuation Day with much revelry commemorated for many years in New York City the 1783 departure of the last British troops from the United States following the success of the American Revolution. Legend has it that wounded British pride resulted in the nailing of a Union Jack to a greased flagpole in Bowling Green prior to the departure. After numerous attmepts by others, a boy was supposedly able to tear down the offending symbol and replace it with the Stars and Stripes before the British ships left from view. George Washington made his triumphal return to the city the same day. Competitions to remove a Union Jack from a greased pole became part of annual celebrations in the following years.
Following the Revolution, elegant townhouses were built around the park, which became largely the private domain of the residents. By 1850, the general northward migration of residences in Manhattan led to the conversion of the residences into the shipping offices, resulting in full public access to the park.
The park suffered neglect after World War II, but was restored by the city in the 1970s and is now one of the most heavily traveled plazas in the city.
In 1989, the sculpture Charging Bull by Arturo Di Modica was installed in the park by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation after it had been confiscated by the police following its illegal installation on Wall Street. The sculpture has become one of the beloved and recognizable landmarks of the Financial District.
[edit] Subway station
Bowling Green is also the name of a New York City Subway station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the entrances of which are located in and next to the plaza.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Where is King George's head?
- Abandoned Stations: Bowling Green
- NYCfoto.com Recent photos of Bowling Green
