Double-decker Fifth Avenue buses at the Washington Square Arch, March 3, 1929.

Until 1958, vehicular traffic and parking were permitted in Washington Square Park. That year, activists including Jane Jacobs and Margaret Mead formed the Joint Emergency Committee to Close Washington Square Park to Traffic in opposition to Robert Moses’ plan to run a six-lane roadway down the middle of the park, as a Fifth Avenue connection to his proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway.

On October 23, 1958, the Board of Estimate issues a ruling prohibiting traffic in the park. The ruling was made permanent five years later.