Dante Park
.142 acres
Sources conflict as to how this triangular parcel at
Broadway, Columbus Avenue, and West 63rd Street became parkland. It
may have been acquired from John A. Bunting in 1852, or it may have
been acquired as a public place by condemnation in 1868. For many
years the site and the parcel to its north were both considered part
of Empire Park. The two parcels were eventually separated into two
parks. The north portion of Empire Park became Richard Tucker Triangle,
and in 1921 the south portion of Empire Park was officially renamed
by the Board of Aldermen for Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321).
Italy's greatest poet, Dante Alighieri was born to a
noble Florentine family. After the death of his beloved Beatrice in
1290, he immersed himself in the study of philosophy and Provençal
poetry. In 1302 Dante was banished from Florence for his political
views and became a citizen of Italy. While in exile, he composed The
Divine Comedy, the first vernacular poetic masterpiece. It tells
the tale of the poet's journey from Hell to Heaven, presenting a changeless
universe ordered by God. Through The Divine Comedy and his
many other works, Dante established Tuscan as the literary language
of Italy and gave rise to a great body of literature. The New York branch of the Dante Alighieri Society had
intended to erect a Dante monument on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of Italian unification in 1912. Carlo Barsotti, editor of Il Progresso
(the first Italian daily newspaper in the United States), urged subscribers
to contribute towards the creation the statue. He had already raised
funds for four other New York City monuments honoring Italians: Giuseppe
Garibaldi (c. 1888) in Washington Square, Christopher Columbus (1892)
in Columbus Circle, Giuseppe Verdi (1906) in Verdi Square, and Giovanni
da Verrazano (1909) in Battery Park. Sculptor Ettore Ximenes, however,
did not complete the statue until 1921. The monument was dedicated
that year, which was the 600th anniversary of Dante's death. In the
early 1990s the Radisson Empire Hotel funded the conservation and
repair of the sculpture and sponsored horticultural improvements and
public programs in the park. In 1999 "TimeSculpture" by architect Philip Johnson
was installed in the northern point of Dante Park. The work reinvigorates
the surrounding geometries of the Lincoln Center area and updates
the tradition of sidewalk pedestrian and town square clocks that dot
New York City. The bronze sculpture rests on a granite base three-and-one-half
feet off the ground-level with the base of the Dante monument and
the Lincoln Center Plaza. Prismatic in form, "TimeSculpture" features
four clock faces oriented to the west, north, and southeast. The piece
was donated by Sonia and Gedalio Grinberg and placed in Dante Park
with the cooperation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and
City of New York/Parks & Recreation.
Thursday, Sep 09, 1999