About Hatika Garden:

50 acres of trees and greenery were planted back in 1954 to give the neighborhood’s tightly packed residents a little breathing space and tranquility. The mastermind behind it? Avraham Karavan—Tel Aviv’s city gardener for nearly 40 years, the father of Israeli landscape architecture, and (fun fact) the father of sculptor Dani Karavan. #WhiteSquare #WolffsonPark

In 1981, the park got a facelift, funded by the Jewish community in New York—on the condition that it would be renamed “New York Garden.” As you can probably guess… that didn’t go over so well, and the name remained “Gan Hatikva!”

The unusual structure at the center of the poster? That’s a stage—technically an “acoustic shell” (1978), if you want to get fancy—one of those almost-forgotten gems. It was designed by the renowned architect Zvi Hecker, who planned a lot of things, including Bahad 1—the IDF’s school for officers (cue cough… what a depressing place… cough). While it’s painted white today, it was originally meant to be blue and white with exposed concrete elements.

Other cool things in the park that you won’t see in the poster:
Ofra Hill—a treble clef-shaped monument honoring singer Ofra Haza, who was born in the neighborhood.
Heavy Worries Resting (2023)—a massive sculpture by artist Know Hope (Yekutieli Adam). It features a figure reaching out and holding something—maybe us?—offering a moment of relief or protection. The piece was installed as part of Avatz, Tel Aviv-Yafo’s public art collection.

The park is packed with history, stories of resilience, immigration struggles, music, and more—but we’ll save some of that for the next time.

How to get there:

The park is in the eastern part of Hatikva neighborhood, stretching from the corner of HaHagana Street to Givati Street.
Picnic spots? Check.
Trash bins? Check.
Crowd levels? Secret park.
Bike lanes? Yep.
Free parking? Last time I checked, yes.