
Where the Hangman Lived on Washington Square - smacktoward
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/where-the-hangman-lived-on-washington-square/
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crazygringo
The article exaggerates... there aren't 20K bodies, but "up to" 20K [1], so
just a "vanity number" \-- and I can't find any reference for what a likely
actual number might be.

Maybe "Megie was tasked with executing prisoners" but there is only a record
of a _single_ hanging, ever. [2]

And while the "Hangman's Elm" is cool in being the oldest known tree in NYC,
the idea that it was used for hangings appears to be a complete later fiction.
[3]

So take your sensationalistic history with a grain of salt, folks...

[1]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070703234838/http://www.nycgov...](https://web.archive.org/web/20070703234838/http://www.nycgovparks.org/download/download.php?downloadFile=WSP_EAS%2Fappendix_3.pdf)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Square_Park#Early_u...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Square_Park#Early_usage)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman%27s_Elm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman%27s_Elm)

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sangerSCB
This kind of hyper-local history is the kind of thing I miss most about living
in a city like New York. Here's a similar resource to OP with block by block,
building by building history in Manhattan
[http://www.nysonglines.com/](http://www.nysonglines.com/)

