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Ralph Bunche Park

Coordinates: 40°44′57.5″N 73°58′11″W / 40.749306°N 73.96972°W / 40.749306; -73.96972
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Ralph Bunche Park
Isaiah Wall and Sharansky Steps in 2017
Map
TypeUrban park
LocationTurtle Bay, Manhattan, New York, US
Coordinates40°44′57.5″N 73°58′11″W / 40.749306°N 73.96972°W / 40.749306; -73.96972
Area0.21 acres (0.085 ha)[1]
Operated byNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation

Ralph Bunche Park is a small municipal public park in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of New York City, on First Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets. It was named in 1979 for Ralph Bunche, the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.[1] In 1985 the park was dedicated as the city's first Peace Park. As it covers less than a quarter of an acre (1,000 m2), it cannot accommodate major gatherings.

History

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1940s to 1970s

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The park is located across First Avenue from the United Nations headquarters. The site was previously occupied by a three-story garage that abutted the east side of the base of Prospect Tower in Tudor City. The new parkland, including the property for Trygve Lie Plaza on the opposite side of 42nd Street, was acquired by the city as part of the widening of First Avenue to accommodate the United Nations headquarters, which included the construction of the vehicular tunnel that runs under First Avenue from 42nd to 48th streets.[2][3][4] The stretch of First Avenue above the tunnel and adjacent to the park was renamed "United Nations Plaza" in 1952.[5]

The granite staircase in the park's northwest corner leads to 43rd Street and the Tudor City apartments. It was built and dedicated in 1948 during construction of the U.N. headquarters and has the famous quotation from Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" incised into its wall. Known as the Isaiah Wall, it was rededicated in 1975 and had the name "Isaiah" added under the final word.[6] The spiral staircase was designed by the firm of Andrews & Clark and replaced a set of stairs that had previously connected Tudor City with First Avenue at 43rd Street.[4][7][8]

On February 5, 1976, the New York City Council Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs passed a bill to name the park "Zion Square." The legislation was sponsored by Councilman Henry Stern and came as a response to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 that had been recently adopted by the international organization. Opponents of the name change included M. T. Mehdi and Alfred Lilienthal.[9][10] An editorial in The New York Times called the bill to name the park "an inane response."[11] The following week, it was disclosed that the city's Art Commission and Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Administration had approved the site in 1973 as the location for a monument to Ralph Bunche, which came as a surprise to both those that supported and opposed naming the park "Zion Square."[12] Officially naming the park would have required approval by the full city council and mayor.[10]

Meanwhile, an international committee was formed to raise funds for the monument to Ralph Bunche planned for the park, which was then referred to as "United Nations Plaza Park."[13] U.S. Representative Charles Rangel introduced legislation authorizing the appropriation of funds for the monument in 1978;[14][15] he subsequently introduced a bill authorizing appropriations for the monument to be used by the Phelps Stokes Fund, which was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1980.[16] The City Council's Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs ended up passing a bill to name the park in memory of Ralph Bunche on July 30, 1979,[17] and legislation establishing "Ralph J. Bunche Park" was signed into law by New York City Mayor Ed Koch on October 9, 1979.[18][19]

In February 1979, Harry Helmsley proposed constructing a 50-story apartment building at the site, swapping ownership of the park with the city in exchange for converting the private parks in Tudor City into public parks (which Helmsley had planned to develop with buildings).[20][21] The plan ran into opposition from community groups and elected officials and two months later Helmsley changed his proposal to instead swap ownership of the city-owned park at the southeast corner of First Avenue and 42nd Street (now called Robert Moses Playground) to build the proposed skyscraper.[22]

1980s to present

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In the plaza in front of the Isaiah Wall is Peace Form One, a stainless-steel obelisk 50 feet (15 m) high, erected in 1980. The sculptor, Daniel LaRue Johnson, was a personal friend of Bunche and dedicated the sculpture to Bunche when the latter won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.[23]

In 1981 the staircase adjacent to the Isaiah Wall was named the Sharansky Steps in honor of Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky.[1]

Ralph Bunche Park was dedicated as the city's first Peace Park by Mayor Ed Koch on August 14, 1985, the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. The designation was inspired by the efforts of Ploughshares, a Seattle-based organization consisting of former Peace Corps volunteers, to create a binational peace park between the United States and Soviet Union with the support of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility. Ploughshares had asked mayors in the United States to lobby Moscow Mayor Vladimir Promyslov to provide a site for the proposed peace park in his city, and Koch decided it would be a good idea to create a peace park in New York City after he was contacted by Seattle mayor Charles Royer to help support Ploughshares' initiative.[1][24][25]

On January 23, 1990, former Mayor Ed Koch dedicated a plaque at the southern end of the park that commemorates American civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.[1]

The United Nations headquarters viewed from the park in 2023

In the early to mid-1990s, the Grand Central Partnership developed plans to designate the segment of 43rd Street between First and Lexington avenues, which includes the Sharansky Steps at the north end of the park, as "United Nations Way" and make streetscape improvements along the corridor to provide an enhanced pedestrian connection between the United Nations headquarters and Grand Central Terminal.[26][27] Flags of the member states of the United Nations were added to the lampposts along 43rd Street in October 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the international organization.[28][29] The street provides access to the nearest New York City Subway station to the park, the Grand Central–42nd Street station (served by the 4, ​5, ​6, <6>​, 7, <7>​​, and S trains), Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal, and the Long Island Rail Road at Grand Central Madison.[30]

Protests and demonstrations

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Because of its proximity to the United Nations, the peace theme of the Isaiah Wall and Peace Form One, and Bunche's career as a peacemaker, the park is a popular site for demonstrations and rallies for peace and other international issues.[31][32] The park covers less than a quarter of an acre (1,000 m2), however, so it cannot accommodate major gatherings of more than 50 people. It is also closed as a security measure during the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly. Larger events are accommodated at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, the only other location near the United Nations headquarters were protests and demonstrations with sound are permitted.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Ralph Bunche Park – Historical Sign". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  2. ^ Barrett, George (May 22, 1947). "U.N. Capital Plans Stress Function". The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image) Manhattan: 1st Ave. - 41st St., (1928)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(cartographic) Plate 74, Part of Section 5, (1930)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Stern, Robert A. M.; Mellins, Thomas; Fishman, David (1995). New York 1960: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Second World War and the Bicentennial. New York: Monacelli Press. ISBN 1-885254-02-4. OCLC 32159240. OL 1130718M., p. 614.
  6. ^ "Ralph Bunche Park". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  7. ^ "The 43rd Street staircase, then and now". Tudor City Confidential. January 4, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  8. ^ "The Sharansky Steps, or Montmartre in Midtown". Tudor City Confidential. May 26, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  9. ^ "City Moves to Establish A Zion Sq. in U.N. Plaza". The New York Times. February 6, 1976. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Mifflin, Lawrie (February 6, 1976). "Council Panel OKs Bill on 'Zion Square' Name". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Unworthy Response". Editorial. The New York Times. February 7, 1976. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  12. ^ Goodman, George Jr. (February 10, 1976). "Bunche Memorial Plan at U.N. Cited". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Panel Named to Honor Bunche With Sculpture". New York Daily News. August 1, 1976. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Ralph Bunche Monument Sought". The Atlanta Voice. May 20, 1978. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ H.J.Res. 905
  16. ^ Pub. L. 96–529, 94 Stat. 3119, enacted December 15, 1980
  17. ^ "Beach Buffs, Beware". New York Newsday. Associated Press. July 31, 1979. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Quindlen, Anna (October 10, 1979). "Koch Signs a Measure To Allow Credit Cards For City Parking Fines". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "Law OKs Payment Of Fines by Credit". New York Newsday. United Press International. October 10, 1979. Retrieved December 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Horsley, Carter B. (February 9, 1979). "Builder Offers to Swap First Ave. Parks With City". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  21. ^ Moritz, Owen (February 6, 1979). "50-story apartment tower near UN planned by Helmsley". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Fowler, Glenn (April 21, 1979). "A Public Park Is Offered In Dispute at Tudor City". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  23. ^ Urquhart, Brian (1993). Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 458. ISBN 0-393-03527-1. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  24. ^ Anderson, Susan Heller; Dunlap, David W. (August 15, 1985). "New York Day by Day; Park of Peace". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  25. ^ Sion, Michael (August 15, 1985). "'Peace Park': A Seattle Campaign Takes Root In New York City". The Seattle Times. ProQuest 385089908.
  26. ^ "Grand Central Subdistrict" (PDF). New York City Department of City Planning. November 1991. p. 18. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  27. ^ "Grand Central Partnership to create new 'ways.'". Real Estate Weekly. November 17, 1993. Retrieved December 12, 2024 – via The Free Library.
  28. ^ Barron, James (October 11, 1995). "Say, Can You See an End to This Job?". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  29. ^ "Grand Central Partnership 2018 Annual Report" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  30. ^ "New York City Subway with railroad and airport connections". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  31. ^ Myers, Steven Lee (November 26, 1991). "Pay Attention When I'm Protesting". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  32. ^ Lambert, Bruce (May 22, 1994). "From Tudor City, Protests Against Noisy Protesters". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  33. ^ "And the Award for 'Best Stage Manager' Goes to…" (PDF). Turtle Bay News. Vol. 51, no. 4. Turtle Bay Association. Fall 2008. p. 5. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
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