Abingdon Square Park
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. The park is bordered by Eighth Avenue
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
, Bank Street
Bank Street (Manhattan)
Bank Street is a primarily residential street in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, in the borough of Manhattan. It runs from West Street to Hudson Street, and Bleecker Street to Greenwich Avenue...
, Hudson Street
Hudson Street (Manhattan)
Hudson Street is a north/south oriented street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from TriBeCa to Greenwich Village and through Hudson Square, Hudson Street has two distinct one-way traffic patterns that meet at Abingdon Square, at the street's intersection with Eighth Avenue and...
and West 12th Street.
The quarter acre (1,000 m2) green space is one of New York City's oldest parks. It is maintained by the Abingdon Square Alliance, a community-based park association, in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
.
New York City acquired the land on which the park resides on April 22, 1831, and it was enclosed with a cast iron fence in 1836. In the 1880s, an effort was initiated by Mayor Abram Stevens Hewitt
Abram Stevens Hewitt
Abram Stevens Hewitt was a teacher, lawyer, an iron manufacturer, chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1876 to 1877, U.S. Congressman, and a mayor of New York. He was the son-in-law of Peter Cooper , an industrialist, inventor and philanthropist...
to expand public access to parks. Architect Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
was part of a group that created a new design for Abingdon Square.
Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon
Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon was an English peer and music patron.Bertie was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon and Anna Maria Collins....
, the 4th Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Baroness Norreys de Rycote, and the younger half-brother of...
and received the land as a wedding gift from her father. Although most explicitly British place names in Manhattan were altered after the Revolutionary War, Abingdon Square retained its name due to the well-known patriotic sympathies of Charlotte and the Earl. On August 3, 2009, a small garden was established as a memorial to Adrienne Shelly
Adrienne Shelly
Adrienne Shelly , was an American actress, director and screenwriter. Making her name in independent films such as 1989's The Unbelievable Truth and 1990's Trust, Shelly transitioned to a writing and directing career in subsequent years...
, an actress and film producer who was slain in her office located in 15 Abingdon Square.
The M11 and M14A bus lines terminate at Abingdon Square.