Columbus Park formerly known as Mulberry Bend Park, Five Points Park and Paradise Park, is a public park in

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

that was built in 1897. American photojournalist

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, " muck-raking" journalist, and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in the United States of Ame ...

(best known for ''How The Other Half Lives'') is generally credited with "transforming Mulberry Bend from a 'notorious slum' to a park" in order to improve

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

dwellers' quality of life in the neighborhood.

History

Prior slum

During the 19th century, Mulberry Bend (a curve of Mulberry Street) was the center of the Five Points neighborhood, the most dangerous

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

area of immigrant New York. Before the park's establishment, Mulberry Bend was an alley Riis considered the "foul core of New York’s slums." The Bend is the site of Riis's 1888 photograph, '' Bandits' Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street.Bandits' Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street, The Art Story
/ref>Michael Burgan, ''Exposing Hidden Worlds: How Jacob Riis' Photos Became Tools for Social Reform'', Compass Point Books, 2018, pp. 8-9'' Photographer and social activist Jacob A. Riis, "friend of the

house children," campaigned for the creation of the park.

1897 establishment

In 1897, due in part to Riis's advocacy, Mulberry Bend was demolished, tearing down "several blocks" of what the American Park and Outdoor Art Association called "the worst tenement-houses in the world." William Dean, captain of Manhattan's Sixth Precinct, stated in 1897,

The establishment of Mulberry Bend Park is one of the greatest blessings that could be bestowed on the people of this precinct, as it eradicated one of the worst blocks in the city, which was made the home of a horde of the most depraved and debased classes, male and female, of all nationalities. Since the eradication of this block, the whole neighborhood has taken a change, and decidedly for the better.

The same year, Riis praised the park's positive effects on the impoverished children and the neighborhood crime rate:

The troublesome boys had not moved away. They had found something better to do than smashing lamps and windows and getting themselves arrested. They had a place now to romp in. That was all they wanted...In healthy play, youthful energies find a safe outlet.

20th century

A postcard claims it was widened circa 1905. In 1911,

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

and

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

completed a redesign of the park, which was then renamed Columbus Park. From 1934 until 1971, a statue of Columbus by Emma Stebbins, better known for creating the bronze statue of the Angel of the Waters at the center of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

’s Bethesda Fountain, stood in the Park.

21st century

As of 2013, the park often serves as a gathering place for the local Chinese community, where "the neighborhood meets up here to play mahjong, perform traditional Chinese music... ndpractice tai chi in the early mornings." In 2019, a

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

of Dr. Sun Yat-sen by Lu Chun-Hsiung and Michael Kang was permanently installed in the northern plaza of the park. The plaza was also renamed for the founder of the first

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, who lived in Manhattan's Chinatown for a time. In October 2021, a large-scale crochet mural made of over 1,500 flowers was put up on the fences of Columbus Park by Chinatown Yarn Circle and Think!Chinatown. The project and its flowers are "in tribute to AAPI community builders, embodying collaboration, triumph over struggle and inspiring future generations."

Gallery

File:Mulberry Bend Park c 1905.jpg, Mulberry Bend Park, 1905 File:Mulberry Bend Park New York City.jpg, Mulberry Bend Park 1912 File:Berkman, Marie Ganz - Mulberry Park, 5-1-14 LOC 5416185868.jpg, Anarchists Alexander Berkman and Marie Ganz rally for workers in Mulberry Bend Park during the Colorado Coalfield War, 1914 File:Tai Chi fans.jpg, Chinese Americans practicing

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

in the park, 2005 File:Statue of Sun Yat-sen in Columbus Park (00283).jpg, Statue of Chinese statesman Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Columbus Park, 2016

References

External links

* Chinatown, Manhattan Five Points, Manhattan Parks in Manhattan {{Manhattan-struct-stub