[title]
NYC Parks officially unveiled a permanent new public artwork this week in Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza near Battery Park City, celebrating the literary legacy of Little Syria, the once-thriving Arabic-speaking immigrant neighborhood that existed downtown from the 1880s until it was demolished in the 1940s.
Called Al Qalam: Poets in the Park, the installation by Moroccan-French artist Sara Ouhaddou centers on a massive sculptural interpretation of the Arabic word “al Qalam,” meaning “The Pen.” The bright yellow structure twists across the lawn in abstract calligraphy inspired by Islamic architecture, resembling an oversized piece of typography dropped into the Financial District.
The artwork honors the writers and poets of Little Syria, a downtown enclave once home to immigrants from what was then known as Greater Syria, encompassing present-day Lebanon, Syria and historic Palestine. At its peak, the neighborhood stretched along Washington Street near the Battery and became an important cultural hub for Arabic-language literature in America.
Among the literary figures commemorated are Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet, alongside poets and writers including Elia Abu Madi, Ameen Rihani and Mikhail Naimy.
The installation also includes two curved mosaic panels fitted onto nearby stone benches. Embedded within the mosaics are excerpts from the writers’ works rendered in Ouhaddou’s signature abstract script. Visitors can scan the pieces using an augmented reality app developed by the Washington Street Historical Society to hear poems read aloud in both Arabic and English while learning about the writers themselves.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the piece “a beautiful tribute” to a community whose influence still echoes throughout New York today. “The culture and history of New York City’s Little Syria will never be forgotten,” he said in a statement.
Despite Little Syria’s enormous cultural impact, much of the neighborhood was erased during the construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in the 1940s. Now, nearly a century later, downtown Manhattan finally has a permanent monument making sure the neighborhood’s story stays visible.