BY IAN M. TORRES
Local artist and teacher Sharon Volpe is one of many artists who used to display her work in Washington Square Park, before a recent uptick in law enforcement forced artists out of that West Village site. She has since found a new home along the 79th street entrance to Central Park, finding a renewed sense of peace, just steps away from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“This is very different than Washington Square. It’s very quiet. I don’t quite do as well here, but I would rather this than the constant harassment and acting like we’re criminals,” she said.
Until the recent rise in enforcement, Washington Square Park had been a safe haven for artists to freely express themselves through art, music or by simply gathering to create artistic pieces around the fountain circle. The changes in enforcement within the park over the past several weeks have stirred anger and confusion among artists, who feel the policies against them are unjustified.
Both the New York City Parks Department and the Washington Square Park Conservancy, which oversee enforcement in the park, have denied any wrongdoing. They say there have been no changes in enforcement, yet eviction of artists from the park remains an ongoing issue. The first evictions transpired on Sept. 27 and have since continued, though park officials have offered no information on updated policies.
Unlike in Washington Square Park, where parkgoers bask in the cultures of art and music regularly, Central Park visitors are more focused on tourist attractions than artists. “I mean, it is more peaceful. There’s more families, more kids. People aren’t going anywhere too fast, so it’s nice,” said Volpe.
Central Park is one of the most populated parks in New York City year–round. There are an estimated 42 million visitors annually, making it the most visited park in the United States. But “there’s also a lot of times in a day there’s a lull,” Volpe said. “I feel like it has to do with the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
With the holiday season in full swing, Central Park artists often see an increase in foot traffic and potential customers. An influx of tourists and local visitors to the park this time of year creates more opportunities for artists to sell their work. With more artists potentially setting up in the park during the holidays, though, competition for customers can increase. And wintry weather can deter people from visiting the park, impacting sales.
Volpe contrasted Central Park with her former site at Washington Square, where permitting used to be relaxed. Many NYC parks require proper permits for artists who want to display their artwork, but in Washington Square enforcement used to be more lax.
“In Washington Square Park, that’s what was always okay. As long as it was art, you know. They would come in and give tickets to jewelry and clothing [vendors] and the racks and all of that, but for art, you’re fine,” she said.
But she said she started getting harassment from parks officials. “They started picking on me; they tried to give me a summons to go to court in 2022,” she said. An officer told her “that I had a print leaning on the floor…I mean, it was something that minuscule, that ridiculous,” Volpe said. “I have a pink table; I mean how many problems can a pink table cause?”
Some artists are choosing to continue showing in Washington Square Park despite the harassment. Others, like Volpe have grown tired of it. “I did protest last summer. We did the whole thing, but I feel like it gave them more fodder to come after us and then I guess they finally just decided to get rid of everyone, except the spots they had to give. There’s not enough room for all of us down there anymore anyway,” she said.
A medallion system is currently in use Central Park and Union Square Park, though not in Washington Square Park. Under that system, there are allocated spots for vendors marked with a Parks medallion on the ground. Vendors must set up centered directly behind the medallion. NYC Parks Rules and Regulations allow “expressive matter” vendors to vend directly behind specific color–coded medallions
Georgi Dimov, a watercolor painter who occupies a spot next to Volpe, has been a regular in Central Park since his arrival in New York from Bulgaria almost thirty years ago. “From the beginning, yeah, I have a permit,” he said. “Sometimes we have issue about the size, if you extend too much the easel, you can have issue with that,” he said, but “basically, everything is okay.”
For now, Volpe has found peace in her new home of Central Park, but remains hopeful about one day returning to Washington Square Park, where it all started for her. “It’s just not the camaraderie that I had there, the family. We really all stuck up for each other, we all supported each other so much – it was like a little family.”