Sitting in the round theatre on a hot summer day, the breeze lingers in the open space and people gather. Dressed in light layers, people from different neighborhoods, countries, and backgrounds sprawl like chameleons across the cement and stone fixtures.

For me, Washington Square Park is a place to be free. Students, teachers, and families with children and dogs gather to sing, eat lunch, talk with complete strangers.

As a student of NYU, I would often sit under a tree and have class, read books, discuss poetry and sociology. It was a place to stroll, not power walk or run to your next appointment. It is where I stood and watched the towers engulf with flames and fall.

The Village, or the area of lower Manhattan that lives between 14th Street and Houston, has been gentrified with big business and new “projects” that are slowly killing the passion and culture of this unique neighborhood. Projects, such as the one described in this video, are taking away art, history and culture of the Village and replacing it with cold, corporate shops and landmarks.

Save our park, a landmark that belongs to not only New York but the world. Living on the other side of the country, I think that any one who has ever stepped foot in its stone should speak up and how important a place is to keep alive. It as a little piece of Paris with hints of Rome and Madrid. It is a place of revolution and change. It is a place that deserves to be protected and the voices of the people need to be heard.