Could one of New York City’s most iconic parks soon be surrounded by gates?

At a Wednesday night meeting of the local Community Board’s Parks Committee, tensions ran high over whether or not to install locked gates at Washington Square Park.

The historic Washington Square Arch welcomes visitors from near and far to the park, but when the clock strikes midnight, the police and Parks Department put up French barricades, cross-chained together, until 6 a.m.

Some residents, however, said the barricades aren’t aesthetically pleasing.

“Now it’s time to replace the unattractive police barricades with appropriate gates that really represent the history of that park,” landscape architect George Vellonakis said.

Others said the barricades aren’t effective at keeping people out. One resident shared a photo of a person sleeping overnight on a mattress in the park.

Opponents, however, argued gates aren’t the answer to that issue, and some longtime residents said they hoped the park would be open 24/7.

“I think that the barricades have to go. I think they’re really, really ugly,” one person said. “They’re really hard for the Parks Department and the police to handle, and they don’t work.”

“Particularly Millennials and Gen Z will have these changes for the rest of their lives,” another person said. “I enjoy traveling other similar parks in Europe where you can walk at all hours of the night.”

Back in 2005, the Parks Department considered installing gates but canceled the plan after fierce opposition from the community. A Community Board member said the idea to install gates resurfaced during COVID when overnight gatherings in the park got out of hand.

“We are not anti-gate. We do believe that they should find more effective ways to support the NYPD,” Washington Square Association President Erica Sumner said.

The committee voted on a resolution to formally ask the Parks Department for its recommendations.

Despite saying he would “soon” come down, a protester has remained on top of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC since May 1, impacting traffic and extending a dayslong standoff with police.

Guido Reichstadter climbed the 168-foot bridge Friday, then draped a black banner and set up a tent while making the bridge his home for the past four days.

Here’s what to know about Reichstadter’s protest and how it is affecting locals in the nation’s capital.

Why is there a man on top of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge?

After Reichstadter climbed the bridge Friday, he identified himself as a protester, writing on X that he was “calling on the people of the United States to bring an immediate end to the Trump regime’s illegal war on Iran and the removal of the regime power through mass nonviolent direct action and non-cooperation.”

He has posted on X throughout his protest, reminding his followers of his cause as he thwarts attempts from the DC police to bring him down.

“The Trump regime occupying the office of the US executive is prosecuting a criminal war of aggression against the nation of Iran, enabled by the refusal of Congress to assert its constitutional power, and by the continued submission of the majority of the US population to this intolerable state of affairs without effective civil resistance,” he wrote on X, saying it’s the public’s responsibility to nonviolently put an end to Trump’s presidency.

Reichstadter said May 4 he hasn’t eaten for days, but previously told NewsNation he went on a 30-day hunger strike while protesting AI outside the Anthropic headquarters.

He has run out of water, however.

“I’ve got the stamina to stay up here a bit longer,” he told WTOP Monday.

What impact is the protest having in Washington, DC?

Reichstadter’s protest has caused lanes to shut down on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, but lanes had reopened for traffic late Monday morning.

Tuesday morning, all lanes were open for traffic, but the pedestrian walkway was closed, according to the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) Program.

If he stays on top of the bridge into Tuesday night, it’s unclear how his protest could impact people traveling nearby to the Washington Nationals game.

“My efforts here have had impacts on the local community and its people, and it is my desire not to harm but to work in communication, to lift up and to contribute what strength I can to the ongoing struggle for rights and freedom which this community has been engaged in for years,” Reichstadter said Sunday.

Police said Monday that their negotiators will remain on the scene.

Mike Stunson is the DC Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network.