Ralph Bunche Park
Ralph Bunche Park is a small municipal public park in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of
New York City, at the northwest corner of First Avenue and 42nd Street. It was named in 1979 for the late
Ralph Bunche.
The park is across First Avenue from the
United Nations headquarters. A granite staircase in the park's northwest corner leads to the Tudor City apartments. In 1981 the staircase was named the Scharansky Steps in honor of
Soviet dissident
Natan Sharansky. In 1975 the northern wall was inscribed with the famous quotation from
Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." It is now known as the Isaiah Wall.
Encyclopedia
Ralph Bunche Park is a small municipal public park in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of
New York City, at the northwest corner of First Avenue and 42nd Street. It was named in 1979 for the late
Ralph Bunche.
The park is across First Avenue from the
United Nations headquarters. A granite staircase in the park's northwest corner leads to the Tudor City apartments. In 1981 the staircase was named the Scharansky Steps in honor of
Soviet dissident
Natan Sharansky. In 1975 the northern wall was inscribed with the famous quotation from
Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." It is now known as the Isaiah Wall.
In the plaza in front of the Isaiah Wall is
Peace Form One, a stainless-steel
obelisk 50 feet high, erected in 1980. The sculptor, Daniel Larue Johnson, was a personal friend of Bunche, and dedicated the sculpture to Bunche, who won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.
Near the southern end of the park is a plaque, dedicated in 1990, which commemorates
civil rights leader
Bayard Rustin.
Because of its proximity to the United Nations, the peace theme of the Isaiah Wall and
Peace Form One, and Bunche's career as a peacemaker, the park is a popular site for demonstrations and rallies concerning peace and other international issues. The park covers less than a quarter of an acre , however, so it cannot accommodate major gatherings.
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