Consider a Donation to the Park Today!

We can only continue to maintain and improve the Square with your support . . . please help us with your donations to keep the park beautiful, clean and safe.

Saturdays - $37
The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in 2019 marked 37 consecutive Saturdays worked by our volunteer gardeners, in collaboration with NYC Parks, to clean, clear, and plant the new gardens at Verdi Square!

“Hope Your Mango’s Ripe” - $152
These are Kathleen Kelly’s (Meg Ryan) words to Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) as they sat on a bench on the east side of Verdi Square in the film You’ve Got Mail. Memorialize their romance with a contribution of $152, in honor of Joe Fox’s dating site handle NYC152.

313 - $313
The 72nd Street subway station opened on October 27, 1904, as part of the original subway, with trains running from Brooklyn Bridge to 145th Street. The original configuration had just one entrance (the control house on the traffic island between 71st and 72nd streets, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places), and the platforms and stairways were unusually narrow, and there were no cross-overs or cross-unders, as the control house had separate turnstile banks and token booths for each side. The 72nd Street station is known as . . .  Station 313.

Falstaff, Leonora, Aida, Otello - $400
When was the last time you really looked at the Giuseppe Verdi statue? He is depicted towering over four of his most popular characters: Falstaff (on the pedestal’s west side), Leonora of La forza del destino (south side), Aida (north), and Otello (east). A donation of $400 honors these beloved characters from Verdi’s music.

Verdi - $1,906
Giuseppe Verdi’s legacy is captured in the Verdi monument, created by Sicilian sculptor Pasquale Civiletti in 1906. Composed of Carrara marble and Montechiaro limestone, the full-length portrait was unveiled on October 12, 1906, to commemorate the 414th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in America. The day began with a march of Italian societies from Washington Square to Broadway and 72nd Street. Over 10,000 people attended the unveiling, attesting to the significance of the occasion in uniting Italian-Americans in celebration of their cultural and artistic heritage. The monument was unveiled by newspaper magnate Carlo Barsotti’s grandchild, who pulled a string that released a helium balloon, lifting the statue’s red, white and green shroud (the colors of the Italian flag). As the fabric peeled away, a dozen doves, concealed in its folds, were released into the air, while flowers cascaded from the veil upon the participants.

The Woodland - $4,138
The Woodland, the area surrounding the Verdi monument, was long known as Needle Park. It has undergone the most dramatic transformation during the site’s recent revitalization. It better showcases the beautiful work of Pasquale Civiletti, and it now accommodates seating and gravel paths. The Woodland area encompasses 4,138 square feet newly planted with trees, shrubs, and wildflowers native to the region.

*You may also contribute any amount.

Friends of Verdi Square, Inc., received an IRS Determination Letter dated November 7, 2019, granting 501c3 status as a public charity as of March 19, 2019, and indicating that donors may deduct contributions under IRC section 170. Beginning in 2020, our most recently filed financial report will be available from the Charities Registry on the New York State Attorney General’s website (www.charitiesnys.com) or, upon request, by contacting the New York State Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005, or us at Friends of Verdi Square, 127 West 83rd Street, #115, New York, NY 10024. You also may obtain information on charitable organizations from the New York State Office of the Attorney General by calling (212) 416-8401.

You may join by clicking the link below and making a payment online,
or by mailing your checks made payable to Friends of Verdi Square to:
Friends of Verdi Square, Inc.
127 West 83rd Street, #115
New York, NY 10024