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Vietnam Veterans Plaza

Vietnam Veterans Plaza
United States
For New York City veterans of the Vietnam War
EstablishedMay 4, 1985 (1985-05-04)
Location40°42′09″N 74°00′35″W / 40.7025°N 74.009722°W / 40.7025; -74.009722
Financial District, Manhattan
Designed byPeter Wormser, William Fellows, and Joseph Ferrandino
TVA Memorial Day Ceremony at Vietnam Memorial
TVA Memorial Day Ceremony at Vietnam Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Plaza is an American memorial plaza in Manhattan, New York. It honors New York City citizens who served during the 20th-century Vietnam War.

Description and history

Located in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, it lies on a trapezoidal parcel of land that was formerly a roadway named Coenties Slip. The slip road was used from the 17th century by Dutch sailors between journeys.[1][2][3] The slip was filled in 1835, and it then became Jeannette Park in 1884, dedicated to the ill-fated Jeannette of the Jeannette expedition.[4] Horticulturist Samuel Parsons was responsible for laying out the garden in 1886.

By the mid-20th century, city planner Robert Moses had rebuilt the park with "horseshoe pitches and tennis, paddleball, handball, and shuffleboard courts all arranged around a tear-shaped asphalt plaza with a flagpole".[5] As part of the construction of the neighboring 55 Water Street, Paul Friedberg was commissioned to redesign the land in 1971, to which he added the amphitheater fountain.[5] Initially, 55 Water Street's owners were responsible for maintaining the park, which was paved in brick similar to the Elevated Acre plaza next to the building.[6]

In 1982, plans were unveiled to redevelop Jeannette Park into a memorial for veterans of the Vietnam War.[6] The architects Peter Wormser and William Fellows and the writer Joseph Ferrandino won a competition to design it.[5] The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission raised private donations of $2.5 million ($1 million from Donald Trump, who served as co-chairman of the commission) to finance the memorial in 1983.[7][8] The park was officially renamed Vietnam Veterans Plaza on July 20, 1983.[9] The next year, it was announced that the plaza would contain a memorial wall, similar to that at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial but made of glass blocks.[10][11] It was dedicated on May 6, 1985, by then-mayor Edward I. Koch to honor the 1,741 citizens of the city who died during the Vietnam War and the 250,000 men and women who served between 1964 and 1975.[12]

Mayor Rudy Giuliani rededicated the plaza on November 9, 2001, following the September 11, 2001, attacks, as it underwent a $7 million restoration.[5][13] A new ceremonial entrance was added providing access from Water Street to South Street and a black granite fountain placed at the center. The "Walk of Honor" contains 12 polished granite pylons with the names of all 1,741 people who died.[5]

In the future, the park may be the site of an entrance to a Second Avenue Subway station under Hanover Square.[4]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (May 11, 2010). AIA Guide to New York City. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-19-977291-9.
  2. ^ Rémillard, François (May 1, 2000). New York City: 2000–2001. Ulysses. p. 140. ISBN 978-2-89464-236-8.
  3. ^ Cohen, Steven (1997). New York. Nelles Verlag. p. 48. ISBN 978-3-88618-903-8.
  4. ^ a b Second Avenue Subway in the Borough of Manhattan, New York County: Environmental Impact Statement. 2004. p. 146.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Vietnam Veterans Plaza". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Downtown Site Chosen for a Vietnam Memorial". The New York Times. September 17, 1982. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  7. ^ Geist, William E. (April 8, 1984). "The Expanding Empire of Donald Trump". New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  8. ^ Santucci, John (July 20, 2015). "Leader of New York Veterans Group Defends Donald Trump". ABC News. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  9. ^ Johnston, Laurie; Anderson, Susan Heller (July 21, 1983). "New York Day by Day; Park Renamed to Honor Vietnam Veterans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  10. ^ Dunlap, David W. (May 30, 1984). "Wall to Honor City's Veterans of Vietnam". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  11. ^ Lescaze, Lee (June 26, 1984). "Vietnam: New York City Remembers". Wall Street Journal. p. 1. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 397961566.
  12. ^ Gross, Jane (May 7, 1985). "New York Pays Homage to Vietnam Veterans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  13. ^ Collins, Glenn (November 10, 2001). "Fresh Pain at Plaza Downtown; Refurbished Vietnam Memorial Is Dedicated, 11/9/01". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
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