Earnest-looking NYU students, Frisbee players, street musicians, skateboarders, jugglers, chess players, and bench warmers -- and those just watching the grand opera of it all -- generate a maelstrom of playful activity in this physical and spiritual heart of the Village. This lively 9½-acre park started out as a cemetery, principally for yellow fever victims -- an estimated 10,000-22,000 bodies lie below. In the early 1800s it was a parade ground and the site of public executions; bodies dangled from a conspicuous Hanging Elm that still stands at the northwest corner of the square. Made a public park in 1827, the square became the focus of a fashionable residential neighborhood and a center of outdoor activity. Two playgrounds attract gaggles of youngsters, dog owners congregate at the popular dog run, and tourists and locals alike are drawn toward the large central fountain where in spring and summer passersby and loungers can cool off in small sprays, or, when the fountain is dry, entertainers and musicians pass the hat. A huge outdoor art fair is held around the park's perimeter each spring and fall; a jazz series blooms in summer; and at the academic year's end the entire park absorbs New York University's graduating class, proud parents, and spent faculty.

The triumphal Washington Memorial Arch stands at the square's north end, marking the start of glorious 5th Avenue. A wooden version of the Washington Arch designed by Stanford White was built in 1889 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of George Washington's presidential inauguration and was originally placed about half a block north of its present location. The arch was reproduced in Tuckahoe marble in 1892, and the statues -- Washington at War on the left, Washington at Peace on the right -- were added in 1916 and 1918, respectively. The civilian version of Washington is the work of Alexander Stirling Calder, father of the renowned artist Alexander Calder. Bodybuilder Charles Atlas modeled for Peace. Subway: A, C, E, F, V to W. 4th St.