The ideal way to see the Village is to walk, and by far the best place to start is its natural center, Washington Square , commemorated in the 1880 novel of that title by Henry James and haunted by many of the Village's illustrious past residents. It is not an elegant-looking place - too large to be a square, too small to be a park - but it does retain its northern edging of red-brick rowhouses (the "solid, honorable dwellings" of Henry James' novel). More imposing is the impossible-to-miss Triumphal Arch , built in 1892 to commemorate the centenary of George Washington's inauguration as president. In 1913, Marcel Duchamp climbed atop the arch to declare the Free Republic of Greenwich Village - but don't plan on re-creating his stunt; the arch has been cordoned off around its perimeter in an effort to ward off graffiti.

Nowadays, the square is rife with undercover police officers, part of a (mildly) successful effort to clear drug dealers. More effective than the cops, perhaps, is the fact that the park itself is closed after 11pm, a curfew that is strictly enforced, though you should not really be worried about your safety here. As soon as the weather gets warm, the square becomes a running track, performance venue, chess tournament and social club, boiling over with life as skateboards flip, dogs run, and acoustic guitar notes crash through the urgent cries of performers calling for the crowd's attention. At times like this, there's no better square in the city

Washington Square

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