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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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Isaiah Wall and stairs, 2011

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.

Location and history

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

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.[7][8] An editorial in The New York Times called the bill to name the park "an inane response."[9] 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."[10] Officially naming the park would have required approval by the full city council and mayor.[8]

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."[11] U.S. Representative Charles Rangel introduced legislation authorizing the appropriation of funds for the monument in 1978;[12][13] 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.[14] 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,[15] and legislation establishing "Ralph J. Bunche Park" was signed into law by New York City Mayor Ed Koch on October 9, 1979.[16][17]

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).[18][19] 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.[20]

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.[21]

Near the southern end of the park is a plaque, dedicated in 1990, which commemorates American civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.[1]

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.[22] In 1985 the park was dedicated as New York City's first Peace Park.[1] The park covers less than a quarter of an acre (1,000 m2), however, so it cannot accommodate major gatherings.

The nearest New York City Subway station to the park is the Grand Central–42nd Street station, served by the 4, ​5, ​6, <6>​, 7, <7>​​, and S trains. In addition, Metro-North Railroad's Grand Central Terminal and the Long Island Rail Road's Grand Central Madison station are nearby.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "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. ^ 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. ^ "City Moves to Establish A Zion Sq. in U.N. Plaza". The New York Times. February 6, 1976. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Unworthy Response". Editorial. The New York Times. February 7, 1976. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  10. ^ Goodman, George Jr. (February 10, 1976). "Bunche Memorial Plan at U.N. Cited". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Panel Named to Honor Bunche With Sculpture". New York Daily News. August 1, 1976. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Ralph Bunche Monument Sought". The Atlanta Voice. May 20, 1978. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ H.J.Res. 905
  14. ^ Pub. L. 96–529, 94 Stat. 3119, enacted December 15, 1980
  15. ^ "Beach Buffs, Beware". New York Newsday. Associated Press. July 31, 1979. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "Law OKs Payment Of Fines by Credit". New York Newsday. United Press International. October 10, 1979. Retrieved December 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Horsley, Carter B. (February 9, 1979). "Builder Offers to Swap First Ave. Parks With City". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Fowler, Glenn (April 21, 1979). "A Public Park Is Offered In Dispute at Tudor City". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Lambert, Bruce (May 22, 1994). "From Tudor City, Protests Against Noisy Protesters". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  23. ^ "New York City Subway with railroad and airport connections". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 3, 2021.
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40°44′57.5″N 73°58′11″W / 40.749306°N 73.96972°W / 40.749306; -73.96972

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