I have made an update to the story with more detail on how the child was found. — Tribeca Citizen on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Whether or not Washington Market Park is secured by a gate is beside the point. If there is a school that should know every inch of this park, it is the Washington Market School. Plus, at the end of the school year, the teachers should know which kids are roamers, etc., and supervise accordingly. — Manhattanmommie on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

This is so cool! — B on Folks in Town: A revolutionary trail of Downtown

The school has been given a corrective action plan that’s all about revising safety protocols during off campus trips to the park (though their prior protocols had been approved by the Department of Health each year). That seems totally appropriate, of course, but it seems unnecessary to many of the families that the school is entirely closed (as opposed to just having any off-campus activities suspended) while that plan is put in place. The school and parents are naturally eager to get the kids back before the end of the year, so they don’t miss out on end of the year festivities. I will also say, WMS is extremely beloved among its families and, while the comments here from people not tied to the school (and someone bearing a grudge over a years-ago admissions event!?) are harshly critical, there is an incredibly strong sense of support for the school among families actually sending their kids to WMS. — JD on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

How great! Thank you. I wish you would be my tour guide in person. — Annette Dorsky on Folks in Town: A revolutionary trail of Downtown

Amazing family... absolutely wonderful cause. 🩷 — Jennifer on Made in Tribeca: Choose Creativity

what a story. God bless them and their family. — Native on Made in Tribeca: Choose Creativity

All of the kids that are marched back and forth to the park (and there are a lot of them!) wear signs or pinnies with the name of the school on them. Perhaps the person who found the child did not know where Washington Market School is if they took the child somewhere else. There are often security personnel involved in the migration as well. My kids went to the school many years ago. It is a great school, and this does seem very uncharacteristic of them. I also can relate to the perceived arrogance of school officials. — Elizabeth on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Respectfully, “the teacher made a mistake” and “the park should have a gate” are not mutually exclusive. I don’t expect perfection from teachers, parents, nannies, or anyone else caring for children. Kids are fast and adults are human. That’s exactly why we put safeguards (seatbelts, pool fences, etc.) in place. If we’re talking about a park used by small children that sits next to a busy street, I don’t think asking for a gate is some wild attempt to shift blame. It seems like basic common sense. — A on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Such a pretentious school to be so careless. I remember back in 2014/2015 I was looking for a daycare in the neighborhood. We attended the open house and my husband was gravelly ill with some super flu that he could not attend. I was given the cold shoulder and reminded that both parent participation was preferred. I already felt out of place. When we did our ice breakers and asked where we live (that's sort of a passive aggressive question to ask to size you up or your wallet) I said Tribeca, and Ronnie's response... I don't know how one lives in Tribeca... I barely can afford to live in Tribeca. It wasn't banter, it was a micro aggressive comment. One thing I did leave from that open house, when she said this and looked dead in my face. "we don't reject kids from the school because of the kids... we reject them because of the parents". — Sandra on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Agree. It’s concerning how the school head is portraying the incident. — TD on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

I don't know who advised the school director on the quotes provided, but that person cannot read the room. — ReaderOnDuane on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

This is an extraordinary story about extraordinary people. Please take a moment to support this great cause! — Downtown Dad Reborn on Made in Tribeca: Choose Creativity

The article reads like a PR campaign to make light of the incident and gloss over a serious situation. The head of school calling it a 'gift' seems strange. — PG on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

What a bizarre statement: “We are really eager to move forward, but we follow all the rules here and we are doing everything the Department of Health requires of us.” So, in the absence of the city requiring them to make changes, they would just “move forward” and stay open? Very odd to indicate that the incident alone doesn’t make them want to reevaluate their safety protocol. They’re just doing so because they’re following the city’s requirements. — TriBeCa mom on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Most public parks do not have gates, and for those that do, children are able to easily open and close them themselves (as my 3 year old does daily). In situations like these, people look for all types of ways to place blame. The fact of the matter is a child was under the care of a teacher, and that teacher fell short. Everyone makes mistakes and it may be hard to accept that this mistake was made, but there’s no other blame to be placed here. I’m happy for the family that the child is okay. — E on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Note to editor: It would be helpful to me and maybe others to list all the candidates running for each office and who is endorsing each in the candidates profiles. — Skip Blumberg on The Candidates 2026: Grace Lee for Senate District 27

Hope they win the fight. NYC literally just released a report about how they want to increase the tree canopy. Mayor should be all over this. You can see how devastating this type of destruction is over on the east side waterfront where they did the resiliency work by the Williamsburg Bridge. That area used to have dense mature tree coverage. They tore it all up and replaced with saplings. Now they won’t have any shade for like two decades. It gets so hot the entire area is practically unusable. — person on A renewed effort to save Battery Park City’s trees

This is not the story we are hearing. It was some stranger who found the child and not anyone connected to the school. They brought the child to another school and somehow it was sorted that the child goes to Washington Market. Making it sound like a minor incident and not owning up to your mistake feels very disingenuous and not in line with what a good school would do. — T-Mom on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Exactly. It’s ridiculous that this park does not have a gate. This isn’t the first and won’t be the last time this happens. — A on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

Let's examine the idea that the park does not promote safety by NOT having an enclosed entrance to the park itself. Any child can wander off. Install a gate with a lock mechanism for the kids. — N on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

In addition to BPC, many trees far older than 40 years were felled in Battery Park. One of the hallmarks of living in Lower Manhattan is the wonderful old trees; London Planes, Linden (especially the Lindens!), Maples, Honey Locust, Ginko and many others. I feel like I know and love each one of them. They were not here when I moved to NYC in 1974 and believe me they make a huge difference. Their loss is a wound. Furthermore, older trees actually contribute to flood resiliency so this flood resiliency project seems a bit ill conceived. I've long wondered how it will work, other than to send rising flood waters north of the project. I can't see any good in any of this. Can someone please explain? — Heide Fasnacht on A renewed effort to save Battery Park City’s trees

The quotes from the director are weird and self-aggrandizing. As the person below noted, this incident shows a troubling gap in oversight -- not an occasion to brag about how exceptional the school is. — JR on Washington Market School’s Hudson Street campus is temporarily closed

This is so amazing 🍎 I just bought it on Amazon and my kids and I have read it 10 times already! Such a great message behind the story! — Elisa on Books of Tribeca: Schmoopie the Apple Lover

As of this week, he has been joined by another street resident. With the warmer weather, maybe the number will grow further. — John on Nosy Neighbor: Who is the man who lives full time on Reade Street?