Washington Square Arch not for sale: Parks Dept.

The newly-formed Save Our Village neighborhood group recently plastered the Village with posters accusing the city of selling corporate naming rights to the Washington Square Arch, but the city’s Department of Parks & Recreation said no such plan is in the works.

“There’s no plans for any corporate naming rights in Washington Square Park,” a spokesman told DNAinfo this week.

Fliers showing the landmark smattered with Citibank, McDonald’s and Starbucks logos began popping up around the park last week, a Save our Village member told DNAinfo.

The purpose of them, a member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity, was to raise awareness about the risks of development destroying the area’s character.

“We did this to show the trajectory of what is possible,” he told DNAinfo, admitting to the publication that he had no evidence evidence of the poster’s claim that “the city of New York is selling corporate naming rights to Washington Square Arch.”

The city did issue a request for business partnerships in June 2012, a project covering 631 basketball courts and 55 dog runs across the city. The plan did not, however, include the dog runs — or the arch — of Washington Square Park. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland