Waterfalls coming to the East River

[antinimby]

New York's East River to Host Artist Eliasson's `Waterfalls'


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iPT3zRn5czEM
A rendering of "The New York City Waterfalls," created by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson
cascades near the Brooklyn Bridge in this image released to the media on Tuesday,
Jan. 15, 2008. Source: Public Art Fund via Bloomberg News



By Henry Goldman

Jan. 15 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a2WpK4UZW.ao) (Bloomberg) -- A temporary public art installation of four mechanical fountains depicting waterfalls will dominate New York's East River off Lower Manhattan beginning in July, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

``The New York City Waterfalls,'' created by artist Olafur Eliasson, will cascade from heights of 90 to 120 feet (27 to 37 meters), illuminated at night and visible from Manhattan's South Street Seaport. The installation will be visible from the Staten Island and Governors Island ferries, which run for free, the mayor said.

The display, running from mid-July to mid-October, will be the second large public art project undertaken by the Bloomberg administration. In 2005, ``The Gates,'' 7,500 saffron-colored banners arranged by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in Central Park, drew millions. The mayor predicted the waterfalls would produce $55 million in economic benefit.

``The waterfalls project will bring a sense of awe back to the harbor and encourage all of us to see a familiar part of our city in a completely new way,'' Bloomberg said.

Eliasson, 40, is best known for ``The Weather Project,'' his 2003 installation of a giant sun made of 200 yellow lamps, mirrors and mist that drew more than 2 million people to the London Tate Modern.

The $15 million cost of the waterfalls was privately donated, said Susan Freedman, president of the Public Art Fund, which led the several-year effort to create the project.

Constructed on Scaffolding

Constructed on scaffolding intended to mimic the look of buildings under construction, its design will be environmentally protective of fish that inhabit the river, and its pumps will be powered from the water current, Eliasson said.

``They are as real as any waterfalls; it is real water falling,'' Eliasson said of the project. ``The scaffolding supports are clearly visible and may be recognized as the same kind that has been used to build New York over the past century.''

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. The company is one of several private sponsors of the project.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=io7kCLriYnlE
A rendering of "The New York City Waterfalls," created by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson
cascades in the East River in this image released to the media on Jan. 15, 2008.
Source: Public Art Fund via Bloomberg News

http://images.bloomberg.com/r06/navigation/copyright.gif

[Edward]

The waterfalls look spectacular in the picture. Looking forward to take a trip around it in my canoe.

[Stern]

Looks great, I have to see them first, but maybe these could become a permanent fixture.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Happy it's coming here, should be pretty cool, though from that angle it looks like the Brooklyn Bridge has sprung a horrible leak.

[antinimby]

Stern, I had thought of the same thing too, if this is successful, then maybe they can make it permanent.

Anyhow, I wonder where that water is coming from.

[NewYorkGuy]

I think this is way more interesting than The Gates. There's a video of the artist talking about it at http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fht ml%2F2008a%2Fpr014-08.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1. Also some interesting links at http://www.newyorkcitywaterfalls.com. How on earth are they going to build these things?

[JCMAN320]

I'm so excited for this. These waterfalls are going to be something the likes of which we have never seen. Edward so lucky you have a conoe I wish. I'll have to take a walk along the East River to take a glance. If anyone would be interested in meeting to go out and meetin in July I would be more than happy.

[JCMAN320]

Stern, I had thought of the same thing too, if this is successful, then maybe they can make it permanent.

Anyhow, I wonder where that water is coming from.

I think they will pump the water from the East River up through pipes and then the water will come out of the pipes to depict waterfalls and fall back to the East River so it will be continuous cycle.

[lofter1]

... a major new work of temporary public art by internationally acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson (http://www.olafureliasson.net/index.html), The New York City Waterfalls, will be on display in New York City from mid-July to mid-October 2008 ...

“In developing The New York City Waterfalls, I have tried to work with today’s complex notion of public spaces,” said Eliasson. “The Waterfalls appear in the midst of the dense social, environmental, and political tissue that makes up the heart of New York City. They will give people the possibility to reconsider their relationships to the spectacular surroundings, and I hope to evoke experiences that are both individual and enhance a sense of collectivity.”

http://www.sculpture.org/documents/scmag01/janfeb01/wanas/wan-6.jpg
Olafur Eliasson,
Yet Untitled, 1998/2000.
View of backwards waterfall as
installed at the Wanås Foundation (http://www.sculpture.org/documents/scmag01/janfeb01/wanas/wanas.shtml).

http://www.dld-conference.com/OlafurEliasson_web-thumb.jpg

Born in Copenhagen in 1967, Eliasson is considered one of his generation’s most influential artists. Throughout his career, he has taken inspiration from natural elements and phenomena, such as light, wind, fog, and water, to create sculptures and installations that evoke sensory experiences. He is perhaps best known for The weather project (http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/eliasson/default.htm) (2003) at Tate Modern in London, a giant sun made of 200 yellow lamps, mirrors and mist that transformed the museum’s massive Turbine Hall and drew over 2 million visitors during its five-month installation (youtube VID (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJnjeHKYeSM)).

http://www.eikongraphia.com/wordpress/wp-content/OlafurEliasson_TheWeatherProject%20small.jpg
Olafur Eliasson - The weather project 2003

http://www.eikongraphia.com/?p=1311

“One of Eliasson’s great strengths as an artist is his ability to captivate viewers, which he will do by integrating the spectacular beauty of nature into the urban landscape on a dramatic scale,” said Steiner, curator of The New York City Waterfalls.

Eliasson’s work often involves industrial materials that, when brought together, create dramatic installations that are as beautiful as they are unexpected. The New York City Waterfalls will be constructed using building elements that are ubiquitous throughout New York: scaffolding is the backbone of the structures, and pumps will bring water from the East River to the top; the water then falls from heights of 90 to 120 feet back into the river. Fish and aquatic life are protected by filtering the water through intake pools suspended in the river. To build the Waterfalls, Public Art Fund has partnered with Tishman Construction Corporation and has engaged a team of design, engineering and construction professionals.

The New York City Waterfalls will be visible by land and boat, and because of their proximity to one another, viewers will be able to see multiple waterfalls from various vantage points in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Governors Island. Dedicated boat journeys to view the Waterfalls, organized by the Public Art Fund in partnership with Circle Line Downtown, will leave from Pier 16 in Manhattan and will provide up-close views of the installations. The Circle Line will provide free and discounted trips daily for the public. The free Governors Island Ferry, which will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the length of the project, and the Staten Island Ferry will also provide views of the waterfalls at Governors Island and between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn.

***

Waterfall 1998 (http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_16.html)

Palacio de Cristal, Parque del Retiro, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 2003 (http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_16.html)

http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_bilder/water_fall_1_02.jpg

Waterfall 1998 (http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_16.html)

Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria, 2000 (http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_16.html)

http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_bilder/water_fall_1_01.jpg

***

Eliasson's 'Waterfall' Is This Art? Discuss

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/14/18161086_4e48903b5a_o.jpg

flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magdalengreen/18161086/)
Uploaded on June 8, 2005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magdalengreen/archives/date-posted/2005/06/08/)
by idg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magdalengreen/)

This is a temporary installation of a major public artwork by renowned Danish artist Olafur Eliasson.

Eliasson returns to Dundee, site of his first ever exhibition in the UK in 1999, with an impressive sculptural waterfall. On view for the duration of the exhibition 'Our Surroundings' (14 May - 17 July), Eliasson's 'Waterfall' is characteristic of his fusion of nature and technology, and his on-going investigation of how we think about and respond to our environment. It is presented in collaboration with the University of Dundee.

***



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61PVQWR731L._SS500_.jpg

Olafur Eliasson (Contemporary Artists) (Paperback)by Madeleine Grynsztejn (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/103-5110702-1463006?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Madeleine%20Grynsztejn) (Author)

amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Eliasson-Contemporary-Artists-Madeleine-Grynsztejn/dp/071484036X/ref=pd_sim_b_img_2)

[Stern]

It sounds like NY will get something like this.

http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_bilder/water_fall_1_02.jpg

This doesn't look to impressive.

[lofter1]

Gotta give Mayor Bloomberg major points for his on-ging support of public art.

He seems to have particular affinity for sculpture.

It might be found that a huge chunk of the funding for the waterfalls project comes directly from Mike's pockets ...


The $15 million cost of the waterfalls was privately donated, said Susan Freedman, president of the Public Art Fund, which led the several-year effort to create the project.

... The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. The company is one of several private sponsors of the project.

[lofter1]

Back in the fall of 2006 (http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/attractions/public_art/pa_temporary_exhibits_past_2006.html) a much smaller water sculpture -- AWASH; Matthew Geller (http://www.wavehill.org/arts/matthew_geller.html) -- was on public exhibit downtown. that was set up in the now derelict Collect Pond Park (http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/attractions/public_art/pa_temporary_exhibits_past_2006.html) (down amidst the court buildings at Leonard / Centre / Lafayette).

Awash, a sculptural installation by Matthew Geller, invites the public to sit and swing beneath a cooling stream of water. Geller’s steel-and- Plexiglas structure provides shelter from its own inclement weather. A water tank sprays water onto a skylight incongruously mounted on a "sidewalk bridge," much like the ones that protect pedestrians at construction sites. Inside the bridge hang several seats recalling both old-fashioned porch swings and traditional park benches, allowing up to eight people to sit and talk while rain splashes romantically on the skylight overhead. The swings and spraying water hark back to an earlier time, when Collect Pond Park was known a fishing and recreation lake. After suffering the effects of too-dense urbanization, the Collect was drained by the City and became the home of the notorious "Five Points" district, immortalized in the book and film Gangs of New York.

LMCC blog (http://www.lmcc.net/blog/2006/11/awash_extended_through_decembe.html)

http://www.lmcc.net/blog/Awash_3818w%5B1%5D.jpg

http://www.lmcc.net/blog/Awash_3830w%5B1%5D.jpg

http://www.lmcc.net/blog/Awash_3809w%5B1%5D.jpg

http://www.lmcc.net/blog/Awash_3819w%5B1%5D.jpg

Posted by Grant N. Services

***

Artist Matthew Geller also created the FOGGY DAY (http://channel.creative-capital.org/webcast_detail_58.html) installation back in 2003 and which was constructed in Cortland Alley (in Tribeca, just east of Broadway between White / Walker) and created the effect of fog and mist emanating from the brick walls of the buildings lining Cortland Alley ...

http://channel.creative-capital.org/images/projects/geller-foggy1-250W.jpg

***

[antinimby]

Wouldn't it be a shame to spend all that money to build this only to tear it all down in a few months?

Why couldn't they just keep it there and turn it on again every year? It will eventually become another one of the city's iconic landmarks.

[alonzo-ny]

Eliasson's 'Waterfall' Is This Art? Discuss

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/14/18161086_4e48903b5a_o.jpg

flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magdalengreen/18161086/)
Uploaded on June 8, 2005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magdalengreen/archives/date-posted/2005/06/08/)
by idg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magdalengreen/)

This is a temporary installation of a major public artwork by renowned Danish artist Olafur Eliasson.


Oh! i remember walking past this at college! I just thought it was something the art department put together, don't know what that says about the art.

Also the image name is Magdalen Green which this instalation is nowhere near.

[The Benniest]

I love it. I think, from the renderings in the first post, that it will look great. To bad they won't be up when I go for Spring Break in March. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go again to see them in July when they go up.

Thanks for the info!
Ben

[Edward]

http://moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3991

http://moma.org/calendar/images/transfer/1505847a21bdb7219a.jpg http://www.moma.org/Library/images/spacer.gif

Take your time: Olafur Eliasson
April 20–June 30, 2008

MoMA, Special Exhibitions Gallery, third floor
MoMA, The Louise Reinhardt Smith Photography Gallery, third floor
MoMA, The Robert and Joyce Menschel Photography Gallery, third floor
MoMA, The Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, second floor
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center (http://www.ps1.org/)
View the online exhibition (http://media.moma.org/subsites/2008/olafureliasson/)

http://www.moma.org/Library/images/spacer.gif Take your time: Olafur Eliasson is the first comprehensive survey in the United States of works by Olafur Eliasson, whose immersive environments, sculptures, and photographs elegantly recreate the extremes of landscape and atmosphere in his native Scandinavia, while foregrounding the sensory experience of the work itself. Drawn from collections worldwide, the presentation spans over fifteen years of Eliasson's career. His constructions, at once eccentric and highly geometric, use multicolored washes, focused projections of light, mirrors, and elements such as water, stone, and moss to shift the viewer's perception of place and self. By transforming the gallery into a hybrid space of nature and culture, Eliasson prompts an intensive engagement with the world and offers a fresh consideration of everyday life.

[antinimby]

$50,000 Tour of Man-Made NYC Waterfalls in Works


http://gothamist.com/attachments/nyc_arts_john/050809waterfalls.jpg


May 9, 2008 (http://gothamist.com/2008/05/09/50000_tour_of_m.php)

When Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls start roaring on the East River and New York Harbor this June, cruises like Circle Line will be bringing passengers so close to the spray they’ll need to stock ponchos on board.

Sure, you could just look at the falls from any number of points on the shore, but tour boat companies are betting that plenty of people will gladly pay for the Man-Made of the Mist experience.


A press release from Circle Line notes that “in today's travel climate, it is more important than ever to create a memorable experience that provides bragging rights to last a lifetime.” So for rich braggarts with $50,000 to throw around, the company will be offering a luxury “Gold Plate” package tour that includes:

Champagne: Dom Perignon and Karl Lagerfeld's vintage 1998 "A Bottle Named Desire."
Chocolate: Knipschildt's La Madeline au Truffe, recognized by Forbes Magazine as the most expensive chocolate in the world.
Diamonds: Tiffany Jazz™ Drop Earrings.
Dinner for Two: Six-course meal from Chef Daniel Boulud's Feast & Fêtes catering.
Presidential Suite: A night in one of New York City's most luxurious presidential suites.
The only thing missing is a diamond-encrusted poncho! And those on a fixed-income needn’t feel shut out – you can also slum it with Circle Line on a $10,000 budget cruise, which features none of the swag but does include a night in the Presidential Suite at Westin New York Times and dinner for two at Le Bernadin. (And yes, Circle Line will still be herding hoi polloi onto double digit tours as well.)

2003-2008 Gothamist LLC

[brianac]

From a Master of Weather, 4 Waterfalls for New York

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/02/arts/Water600.jpg Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
The artist Olafur Eliasson at Pier 17, in front of the Brooklyn Bridge, one site for his new project. More Photos > (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/17/arts/2008418elia2_index.html)

By CAROL VOGEL (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/v/carol_vogel/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: June 2, 2008

On an unusually cold and rainy spring afternoon, Olafur Eliasson was huddled under a large umbrella in Lower Manhattan gazing down the East River toward Governors Island.
Multimedia

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/17/arts/2008418elia2-B.JPGSlide Show (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/17/arts/2008418elia2_index.html)Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/17/arts/2008418elia2_index.html)


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/02/arts/Water2450.jpgBernstein Photography, Courtesy Public Art Fund
The artist Olafur Eliasson plans to build a waterfall between Piers 4 and 5. More Photos » (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/17/arts/2008418elia2_index.html)

“You could be in Sweden or Denmark,” he said of the gray, even light. “Fog makes everything more explicit. See how Governors Island fades in the rain?”

It seemed fitting that Mr. Eliasson, a Danish-Icelandic artist who is world-famous for creating his own weather systems, was enveloped in a misty landscape that could well have been of his own making.

He had traveled straight from the airport to Pier 35 on the East River after flying in from his home and studio in Berlin. He has been a familiar presence at the site for the last several months, having visited every two weeks to check on the progress of his “New York City Waterfalls.”

His much-publicized $15 million initiative is to create four waterfalls ranging from 90 to 120 feet in height that will appear from June 26 to Oct. 13 and run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In addition to the waterfall at Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge, there will be one in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, another between Piers 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and a fourth on the north shore of Governors Island.

Organized by the nonprofit Public Art Fund (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/public_art_fund/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and the city of New York, it is being billed as the city’s biggest public art project since “The Gates,” the $20 million effort by the artists Christo (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/christo/index.html?inline=nyt-per) and Jeanne-Claude in which 7,500 gates festooned with saffron-colored fabric panels were positioned along Central Park’s pathways for 16 days in 2005.

It is also Mr. Eliasson’s first public art project in New York. When he proposed the idea to the Public Art Fund, Susan K. Freedman, the organization’s president, decided that such an undertaking could be accomplished only with the city’s heft behind it. “It was too ambitious,” she said. “This has been two intense years of getting permits and making sure it was environmentally safe.”

Altogether, at least 108 people have been involved, including engineers, scientists, divers, scientists, riggers and environmentalists.

As has often been the case with arts projects, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloomberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per)’s office was eager to be involved. “The mayor is always looking for new ways to showcase New York,” said First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris. She added that several city and state agencies also played a role.

“There’s never been a manual for how to put waterfalls in the East River,” she explained.

Ms. Harris said she hoped this multiborough project would attract visitors, just as “The Gates” generated an estimated $254 million in economic activity for the city. Hotels are offering special waterfall packages. Tourist agencies are planning bicycle and boat tours. The Circle Line Downtown will be running special waterfall excursions, too, some of them free, with an audio introduction by Mr. Eliasson.

City officials and the Public Art Fund say that no city money is being used to pay for the waterfalls, with all of the funds coming from foundations, corporations and private supporters.

The spot where Mr. Eliasson paused on that recent rainy day, an esplanade frequented by joggers and dog walkers as well as tourists visiting Lower Manhattan, holds a particular fascination for him. “From here you can see all four sites at once,” he said.

An intense man with a small frame and rumpled brown hair, the artist, 47, in flawless English, tried to explain the mechanics of his project. All that was visible that afternoon were several steel scaffolding constructions on the shoreline by Pier 35, floating black devices to prevent boats and fish from interfering with underwater filters.

A cage beneath the river’s surface pumps water through a pipe running upward along the scaffolding, shooting it through a trough at the top and then down the other side to frothy effect.

Mr. Eliasson said he purposely left the scaffolding highly visible.

“Scaffolding is not an unfamiliar structure in New York,” he said. “You see it on every construction site in the city. I want people to know that this is both a natural phenomenon and a cultural one.”

He said he designed the scaffolding to match the scale of the surrounding buildings so it would blend into the urban landscape. Once the waterfalls are turned on, their sound will meld with the other sounds of the city.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/02/arts/Water3650.jpgBernstein Photography, Courtesy Public Art Fund
Another waterfall is planned for the Brooklyn Bridge. More Photos > (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/17/arts/2008418elia2_index.html)

Mr. Eliasson is an old hand at creating ephemeral atmospheres. Perhaps his best known is “The Weather Project,” an installation in 2003 inside the cavernous Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London. That consisted of a giant sun created from hundreds of light bulbs placed at the top of one wall, a mirrored ceiling and a mist machine. Over six months, it attracted more than two million visitors.

Given that much of New York City is surrounded by water, the idea of creating waterfalls seemed obvious to Mr. Eliasson, who suggests that New Yorkers are not as strongly connected to their waterfronts as urban Europeans are.

Throughout history, he said, New Yorkers “have always taken water for granted.” He added: “Now people can engage in something as epic as a waterfall, see the wind and feel its gravity. You realize that the East River is not just static.”

These are not Mr. Eliasson’s first waterfalls. In 2005, for instance, he fashioned a 20-foot-tall waterfall in a small garden on the campus of Dundee University in Scotland. At the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, Queens, he created a reverse waterfall in 1998, devising pumps and a basin that sent the water traveling uphill. That project is on view through June 30 as part of “Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson,” a midcareer retrospective and two-part exhibition at P.S. 1 and the Museum of Modern Art.

Artists throughout history have found romance in waterfalls, of course. In the United States, Hudson River School painters like Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church and Asher B. Durand all included them in their landscapes.

“Viewers will be seeing something they know from a picture, but now they will be experiencing them as a physical thing,” Mr. Eliasson said.

Unlike the much-trumpeted opening of “The Gates,” the artist said, he expects no official celebratory fanfare when the waterfalls are finally up and running.

“It’s important to be very straightforward and not to overamplify or overmystify things,” Mr. Eliasson said. “The waterfalls will just be turned on in the morning, and that’s it.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/arts/design/02wate.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=nyregion

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[MidtownGuy]

I was at PS1 on Friday and saw some of Eliasson's stuff. Very cool. I'm looking forward to seeing these waterfalls.

[brianac]

^^^

Lucky you.

I must say some of the exhibits shown on the slide show look really interesting.

[brianac]

First Photo of an NYC Watefall Turned On

Thursday, June 12, 2008, by Joey

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_6_pier35.jpg

Artist Olafur Eliasson's four NYC Waterfalls may not officially be making their debut until June 26, but why wait to get a glimpse of the soon-to-be-sensations in action? Take a look at what was going on at Pier 35 near the Manhattan Bridge. Folks: we have water. Writes our new favorite Curbed tipster: "I woke up in the wee hours last night and noticed that Olafur Eliasson was testing the waterfall on Pier 35. This craptacular photo depicts the glory. Or whatever." Sure, the strength of the stream looks like a little weak for this test, but it'll pick up once the tourists start snapping away. What's up now, Niagara?

http://curbed.com/archives/2008/06/12/first_photo_of_an_nyc_watefall_turned_on.php

Copyright © 2008 Curbed

[NYatKNIGHT]

Also, the waterfall beneath the Brooklyn Bridge was tested on Wednesday night.

[NYC4Life]

These waterfalls should be made a permanent display. Can't wait to see them illuminated at night.

[NYguy]

JUNE 20, 2008

Another test run. I think I like this one the best. In fact, all of the falls
should have been installed under east river briges, and they should be
permanent. Can't wait to see it lit at night.

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98968190/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98968193/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98968195/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98968197/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98968199/large.jpg

[lofter1]

Try to catch the Eliasson exhibit at MoMA through June 30 :

Take your time: Olafur Eliasson (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3991)
(http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3991)
Other works by Eliasson also on exhibit through 6.30 at PS1 in Long Island City (http://www.ps1.org/ps1_site/content/view/311/102/)

[NewYorkDoc]

I don't think it looks good at all, atleast what I see on here so far.

[NYguy]

I'm liking the bridge falls. A few more pics...

JUNE 20, 2008

The lady and the water...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98990800/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98990801/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98990802/large.jpg

[lofter1]

Only 5 more days until the show begins ...

http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/ (http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/)

[NYC4Life]

From: Curbed.com

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_06_Waterfalls-Park.jpg

Today is Waterfalls Turn On Day, and there will be a press conference featuring the Mayor and Olafur Eliasson at 10AM followed by the first boat tour of the turned on falls and, oh, about 500,000 flickr photos by this time next week. The falls are on from 7AM-10PM every day through October 13. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Bridge Pop-Up Park (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/06/24/brooklyn_bridge_popup_park_prepping_for_waterfall_ friend.php) also opens today. It'll be there through Labor Day from 10AM-10PM at Fulton Ferry Landing. Happy waterfalls watching.

[NYCWishing]

hopefully everyone that cares to go, will post plenty of pictures. im kind of excited to see them lit up at night.

[MidtownGuy]

Too many metal bars.

[lofter1]

What do you expect to get for $50,000,000.00 :confused:

[brianac]

Guide to Viewing the Waterfalls

By CONRAD MULCAHY
Published: June 27, 2008

“The New York City Waterfalls,” Olafur Eliasson (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/olafur_eliasson/index.html?inline=nyt-per)’s work of public art, will be even more public than “The Gates” were. After all, you had to go to Central Park to see “The Gates.”

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/26/nyregion/WATERFALLSmap800.jpg

For many New Yorkers, and visitors to New York, it will be hard to miss the waterfalls, which officially opened Thursday and run until Oct. 13. The work consists of four scaffoldings, ranging between 90 and 120 feet tall, dotted along the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Governors Island waterfronts.

Water will cascade from these scaffoldings every day, beginning most mornings at 7 (Tuesdays and Thursday at 9 a.m.), and will go silent each night at 10. The waterfalls will be lighted after the sun sets and will draw their water from the East River.

No matter how you choose to see the waterfalls — by boat, train, bicycle or on foot — Public Art Fund (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/public_art_fund/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and the city have a plan in place for you (first stop: nycwaterfalls.org (http://nycwaterfalls.org/)). A temporary park has been created on Pier 1, a site of the future Brooklyn Bridge Park, for waterfall viewing. The falls will also be visible from the back of a cab mired in endless rush hour traffic on any number of waterfront roadways. But there’s no official word on that.

Views From the Water
Circle Line Downtown is running special boat tours. While the waterfalls will be visible from several of the Circle Line cruises that originate from South Street Seaport, there is also a 30-minute tour, which focuses solely on the four installations. Thirteen of these 30-minute waterfall cruises will be run daily, with the first departure at 9 a.m. and the last ride leaving Pier 16 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Pier 16-17 ticket kiosk at South Street Seaport, from the Circle Line Downtown Web site (circlelinedowntown.com/waterfalls.asp (http://circlelinedowntown.com/waterfalls.asp) ) or by telephone at (866) 925-4631.

Tickets are $10; $9 for 63+ and $5 for children 4 to 12. A limited number of free tickets will be available, by telephone only, for every cruise. There is a limit of one order per household. The best seat on these water tours is the top deck of the larger of the two boats, the Zephyr. Seating is first come first served.

Mr. Eliasson recorded an introduction that will be played on the cruise, setting the stage for viewers by highlighting, for example, “the way the water rocks the boat,” and “the way you see the city from the water,” as well as offering thoughts on the importance of public art. The introduction is like having a quiet conversation with Mr. Eliasson at the start of your journey, before he quietly fades away to let his art do the talking.

Bicycle Views
A dedicated bike path has been marked for those who want to tour the falls on two wheels; a map is available online at nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/bike_the_falls_map.pdf (http://nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/bike_the_falls_map.pdf).

The bike route on the map begins at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side, crosses the bridge, wends through Brooklyn Heights and the downtown area before it sends the rider back across the Manhattan Bridge. At the end of the Manhattan Bridge the route ducks through a corner of Chinatown and then sends the rider down the east side of the island, finishing at the South Ferry station, where a ferry to Governors Island is available.

The bike path is marked throughout with blue chevrons and waterfalls logos painted onto the street, but their scarcity at times can lead to some confusion. Make sure to bring a copy of the map itself. When in doubt, follow established bike lanes (especially in the section through downtown Brooklyn and to the Manhattan Bridge).

While you could cover the bike route in around 90 minutes, it would be a shame to do so. Plan on spending a lazy afternoon visiting the viewing sites and enjoying the many strata of the New York that you’ll be riding through. And don’t feel anchored to the bike path’s starting and ending points. It’s easy to ride pieces of the route, or to do it in any order that suits you.

Bike and Roll, a bicycle rental and tour company, offers waterfalls tours daily from Pier 17, South Street Seaport, at 3 and 6:30 p.m. The cost is $40 per person, including bike and helmet rental. For reservations call (866) 736-8224. Friday through Sunday, this weekend only, the guided tours, including the bike rentals, will be free. Reservations must be made in advance; space is limited. On Governors Island, Fridays through Oct. 4, adult and children’s bicycles are available free for one hour with a photo ID or credit card. Free limited bicycle loaners are also available through October through the Downtown Alliance at Pier 17; hours and reservations: downtownny.com/bikearound (http://downtownny.com/bikearound).

Accidental Viewing
There are many other spots where you’ll catch a glimpse of the falls in the normal course of a day. From the Staten Island Ferry. From the Governor’s Island Ferry. (Both are free.) From a Manhattan-bound D or B train. From a Brooklyn-bound N or Q train. As Mr. Eliasson tells passengers in his recorded introduction for the Circle Line: “The journey itself is something that I would claim is a part of the project. It’s a part of the artwork.”

Food With a View
HARBOUR LIGHTS, South Street Seaport, Pier 17, third floor, Lower Manhattan, (212) 227-2800; seafood specialties served until 10 p.m. weekdays, 11 p.m. weekends.

BATTERY GARDENS, inside Battery Park, opposite 17 State Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 809-5508; indoor and outdoor dining till 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday (drinks till 11), and 3 p.m. Sunday.

BROOKLYN ICE CREAM FACTORY, next to River Cafe, 1 Water Street, near Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn, (718) 246-3963. Open till 10 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and 11 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays.

RIVER CAFE, 1 Water Street, Brooklyn, (718) 522-5200; last dinner seating at 11 p.m.; the terrace room, a casual space, is open for drinks till about midnight on nights when it is not booked for private parties.

More Eliasson
This is the last weekend to see “Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson,” a retrospective of his work, at the Museum of Modern Art through Monday. More information is available at moma.org (http://moma.org/) or by phone at (212) 708-9400.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27bwate.html#

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[lofter1]

Cascades, Sing the City Energetic

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/27/arts/waterspan.jpg
Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Waterfall under the bridge: A side view of an installation by Olafur Eliasson
at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Brooklyn side.

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27wate.html?hp)
By ROBERTA SMITH
June 27, 2008

Art Review

When Walt Whitman crossed the East River on the Brooklyn Ferry, the sheer ecstasy of the trip made him see the future. It was us, the coming generations of urban dwellers who would draw the same energy he did from his wonderful town and its waterways.

Whitman imagined an essence of city life that is still palpable — and intoxicating — no matter how many changes we lament. But I doubt he could have conjured one thing that we can see for the next three and a half months: the waterfalls in our midst.

Four of them, to be exact. Together they form a mammoth work of shoreline land art called “The New York City Waterfalls.” It is the brainchild of the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson working with the tireless Public Art Fund and a host of public and private organizations and donors. Between 90 and a 120 feet high and up to 80 feet across, they cascade into Whitman’s beloved East River from four dense, plumbed scaffolding structures on or just off the coasts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Governors Island, making some of New York’s most thrilling waterside vistas more so.

Sometimes Mr. Eliasson’s falls are almost miragelike, especially after dark, when unobtrusive lighting makes them shimmer white against the muffled cityscape. It is at night that you have the greatest chance of hearing them from a distance, otherwise the rush of water is drowned out by the city. But their quiet heightens their strangeness, day or night. It is as if they were in their own movie, a silent one. And in a way they are. They could almost fool King Kong into thinking he is back home. They are the remnants of a primordial Eden, beautiful, uncanny signs of a natural nonurban past that the city never had.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/26/nyregion/23847979.JPG
Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
A view from near by the Pier 35 installation.

Sometimes when the wind is brisk, and the steel scaffolding is especially visible, the falls inspire more nuts-and-bolts associations. They can send the mind to the Cyclone of Coney Island and those towers from which daredevil riders and their hapless steeds used to jump, or to old Times Square with its ambitious billboards. If you get really close to them, you’ll see that the water is carried upward by what are essentially common New York apartment-building plumbing risers (18 inches in diameter, and occurring every 10 feet across).

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/26/nyregion/23847985.JPG
Photo: Vincent Laforet for The New York Times

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/photo/2008/06/26/20080626FALL/23847983.JPG
Photo: Vincent Laforet for The New York Times

The waterfalls run every day, from morning until 10 at night. Which is to say that they can be turned off, unlike the city that never sleeps. (They do turn off automatically if the wind is too strong.) Unlike real waterfalls, they continuously recirculate river water, meaning that they are, technically speaking, fountains. In the same vein the work’s very title is an oxymoron. After all, it was the relative dearth of real waterfalls that fostered New York’s nearly instant success and glamour as a port city.

But “The New York City Waterfalls” is also one of the largest works of art, public or otherwise, of our modern era. (Let’s not get in a shouting match with ancient civilizations, where autocratic rule made all sorts of things possible.) The piece is an heir to the monumental site-specific artworks whose most spectacular examples were made (and in some cases still are being made) in the distant reaches of the Nevada and Utah deserts starting in the late 1960s and the ’70s by earth artists like Robert Smithson, Walter De Maria, James Turrell and Michael Heizer. Ever since, younger, less isolationist artists have figured out ways to do something similar in the urban environment, within reach of a large public. In this they have followed the example of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose 2005 “Gates” ostentatiously swathed Central Park in orange.

The waterfalls are an astounding feat of engineering, municipal coordination and fund-raising (given their $15 million price tag). But they are also actually relatively unobtrusive and brilliantly insidious. They go against the grain of the often spectacular nature of quite a bit of the best-known public art, including some made by Mr. Eliasson himself.

Mr. Eliasson likes to think big about ways to enhance the experience of light, space, scale, nature and community. His best known work is the 2003 “Weather Project,” an immense installation of the jaw-dropping kind. Using bright yellow fluorescent lights behind a scrim and a mirrored ceiling, it created an immense glowing sun on the end wall of Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall, while also mechanically adding bits of mist and fog to the view.

For months Londoners basked in the work’s artificial glow, often while stretched out on the ground gazing up at their tiny reflections. Sometimes they collaborated on performance pieces visible to everyone, arranging their prone bodies in words of greeting or protest or in abstract designs. Some people hated the work, seeing it as a dwarfing spectacle with fascist overtones; others complained that it turned the museum into a giant playpen.

Here Mr. Eliasson takes a more subtle tack. The falls don’t bowl you over or dwarf you until you get close to them, and even then not always. Mostly they accumulate in a way art purists may welcome with buzzwords like “de-centering” and “discursive.” Despite its size, the work has to be assembled and reassembled by individual viewers who will see its parts from hundreds of different vantage points along the river.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/26/nyregion/23847945.JPG
Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/26/nyregion/23848185.JPG
Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Even when you go to one of the places where all four waterfalls are visible at once, the spectacular character of the piece builds slowly. From the top level of the Pier 17 building in the South Street Seaport, for example, the widest fall, spouting from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and veiling the Brooklyn-side pylon in sheets of white water, is easy enough to spot. The others , smaller and more distant, must be picked out one by one. To the right, the second Brooklyn falls, on the Brooklyn Piers, can almost get lost in the jumble of buildings. Up river a bit the Manhattan falls stand out on the short Pier 35 yet seem a little dwarfed, like a water slide without its slide. To the far right, the falls on Governors Island are especially beautiful. Rising above the relatively low-lying profile like a tropical vision, they seem to waiting for the jungle to grow up around them.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/photo/2008/06/26/20080626FALL/23848029.JPG
Photo: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/photo/2008/06/26/20080626FALL/23848015.JPG
Photo: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/photo/2008/06/26/20080626FALL/23848007.JPG
Photo: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

The experience of Mr. Eliasson’s artful addition to the urban landscape depends on everything around it — the city’s changing pace, light and (real) weather. And on you. The falls can be looked at from near or far, alone or in groups, on foot or bike, from boats and bridges, in snatched glimpses on the move or staying-in-place contemplation. They fake natural history with basic plumbing, making little rips in the urban fabric through which you glimpse hints of lost paradise and get a sharpened sense of Whitman’s, the one you already inhabit.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/26/nyregion/23847993.JPG
Photo: Vincent Laforet for The New York Times

Copyright 2008The New York Times Company

[NYC4Life]

I Was In Brooklyn and Downtown today and snapped these shots of the waterfalls (All 4) :)


The Waterfalls at Pier 35 (Lower East Side) From the Brooklyn Bridge:

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/9448/manhattanbridgenycwatersk8.jpg

The Waterfalls at Pier 35 (Lower East Side) From South Street Seaport:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/4079/nycwaterfallspier35vb2.jpg

The Waterfalls at Brooklyn Piers from South Street:

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/5239/nycwaterfallsatbrooklynmy9.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8374/nycwaterfallsatbrooklynmm4.jpg

The Waterfalls Under The Brooklyn Bridge From South Street Seaport:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9905/nycwaterfallsbrooklynbrsu1.jpg

The Waterfalls at Governors Island From South Street Seaport:

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/429/nycwaterfallsgovernorsirw9.jpg

From Battery Park:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/69/nycwaterfallsgovernorsiwd4.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

I'm guessing that it is most effective at night, when it is illuminated.

[antinimby]

I think if people go in thinking they're going to see Niagara Falls, they're going to be disapppointed.

It just doesn't have that kind of water volume.

Instead, people should look at these as large scale art displays and then they'll be more likely to appreciate them.

[Ninjahedge]

I agree with the nay-sayers.

It looks like a bunch of scaffolding with water coming off of them, which it essentially IS.

I though there would be some sort of cladding or something to hide the utilitarian skeleton that does not match with either the intended resemblance (nature) or the backdrop (classical civil structures).

And I fail to see how this will, as some politicians have said, bring in money. I would not come to NY just because of these. People will go to see them, but only if they are in the area to begin with.



I also agree with BR, I think they will look better at night, where all you (are supposed to) see is the backlit water.

$50m??!? How the HELL do these things cost that much money????

[lofter1]

One report I heard I thought said $50M, but the one above says $15M.

Maybe it's my ears.

But it's paid for by contributions to the Public Art Fund and out of Myor Bloomberg's pocket, so what's the gripe there?

And why on earth would one hide the mechanisms which create the fountains? It's part of the fascination and wonder.

Also, I've seen folks interviewed who flew-in to NYC precisely to view The Waterfalls. Just as folks came to see Christo & Jean Claude's The Gates in CP a few years back.

Some folks travel to hear a band. Others to watch a sporting event.

And then there are the art groupies, who abound. How else does one explain Bilbao?

[kliq6]

I think if people go in thinking they're going to see Niagara Falls, they're going to be disapppointed.

It just doesn't have that kind of water volume.

Instead, people should look at these as large scale art displays and then they'll be more likely to appreciate them.

agreed want to see a true natural waterfall go to Niagara. I was at the seaport last night for a event, took a look at the BK bridge one and said unique but i wouldnt go crazy over it either.

[asg]

Eliasson's The Weather Project from 2003 at the Tate Modern was much more sublime.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/40/84060052_5854842a39_o.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theblackstock/2567324022/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/theblackstock/2567324022/)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/oct/16/arts.artsnews (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/oct/16/arts.artsnews)

[MidtownGuy]

Must have been incredible to see it in person.

[antinimby]

And blinding, too. :cool:

[Ninjahedge]

One report I heard I thought said $50M, but the one above says $15M.

Maybe it's my ears.

But it's paid for by contributions to the Public Art Fund and out of Myor Bloomberg's pocket, so what's the gripe there?

$15M or $50M could be spent in many different ways. Some practical, some artistic and the two don't necessarily need to conflict with each other.

I never said "our" money is being spent, but that mush money being spent could be used elsewhere for more than leaking scaffolding.

And why on earth would one hide the mechanisms which create the fountains? It's part of the fascination and wonder.

I guess when you walk to work looking at scaffolding every day, there is no wonder. For me at least. Looks like a stanadrd modularized cross braced stainless steel scaffolding with some large water pumps at the bae and a diffuser at the top.

Yipee.

Also, I've seen folks interviewed who flew-in to NYC precisely to view The Waterfalls. Just as folks came to see Christo & Jean Claude's The Gates in CP a few years back.

And how many would that be? If these falls did not have the artists name on it, would these people still have come?

Some folks travel to hear a band. Others to watch a sporting event.

And then there are the art groupies, who abound. How else does one explain Bilbao?

A desire to be one of teh ones that thinks that saying you have seen his stuff somehow means that you are a better person because you did so.

Agreed that some people will see a show, or get a product, based more on name than on actual merit, but this, to one that does not know this artist from Adam, is a very poor showing for the money.

[pianoman11686]

It was 15M to build. I believe the 50M number was an estimate of economic activity generated for the city.

[Ninjahedge]

It was 15M to build. I believe the 50M number was an estimate of economic activity generated for the city.

I am hearing otherwise from other people.... That one of them cost $35M to build?

I cannot veirfy this, but....

It still matters little. That is just the icing no the cake.

I am sure it looks much better at night, but during the day........

>shrug<

[pianoman11686]

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/waterfalls-display-opens-on-harbor/index.html

First line.

[NewYorkDoc]

Would've been much better with stronger water pressure.

[lofter1]

A desire to be one of teh ones that thinks that saying you have seen his stuff somehow means that you are a better person because you did so.

Or maybe people go to enjoy the work and ponder it and thereby enrich their minds.

Do people who go out of town to watch their team play do it so they can show off and claim to be better than others?


Agreed that some people will see a show, or get a product, based more on name than on actual merit, but this, to one that does not know this artist from Adam, is a very poor showing for the money.

So is the lack of value due to your admitted ignorance?

A restrospective of Eliasson's has been on exhibit at MoMA for the past several months, and links to the info for same were provided here.

Not saying that anyone had to go see the show. But to NOT go and then to put down others who know of this artist's work and are curious about it is, IMO, odd.

Expanding one's horizons is never a bad idea.

[lofter1]

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/waterfalls-display-opens-on-harbor/index.html

First line.

For those who have trouble with the NY TIMES City Blog link ...

‘Waterfalls’ Display Opens on Harbor

By Sewell Chan

“New York City Waterfalls,” (http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/)Olafur Eliasson (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/olafur_eliasson/index.html)’s $15.5 million quartet of temporary cascades dotting the New York Harbor, formally opened on Thursday morning with a ceremony at South Street Seaport and a publicity blitz by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloomberg/index.html), who criss-crossed four morning television programs to tout the installation.

Officials billed “Waterfalls” as the city’s grandest public art commission since Christo (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/christo/index.html) and Jeanne-Claude flooded Central Park with saffron-colored fabric panels for “The Gates” in 2005.

Flanked by Mr. Eliasson, the mayor said at the opening ceremony — which began around 10:30 a.m., a half hour late — that the “Waterfalls” (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/arts/design/02wate.html) were a “symbol of the energy and vitality that we have been bringing back to our waterfront in all five boroughs.”

The mayor said, “True, there was no manual for how to install four waterfalls in the East River,” but — noting that he had an undergraduate engineering degree — said that Tishman Construction and other technical experts had tackled the problem creatively. He said the project — which remains on view through Oct. 13 — had gotten 30 permits from government agencies.

The waterfalls are at Pier 35 in Manhattan, near South and Rutgers Streets north of the Manhattan Bridge; at the Brooklyn tower of the Brooklyn Bridge; Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn, west of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade; and on the north shore of Governors Island. They will be turned on every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they will be activated at 9 a.m. After sunset, the waterfalls will be lighted by light-emitting diodes.

(See a related art review (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27wate.html) by Roberta Smith and viewing information (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27bwate.html). The Times is encouraging readers to submit their own photos of the “Waterfalls” by e-mail (nytartspix@gmail.com).)

The four waterfalls, 90 to 120 feet tall, churn 35,000 gallons of East River water per minute, or 2.1 million gallons per hour. The water first goes through mesh-covered “filter intake pools” to ensure that fish and larvae are not pulled into the pumps or harmed.

Mr. Bloomberg called the project “a triumph of human imagination and mechanical engineering,” and a reminder that “New York City is a place where big ideas can be realized.” Such projects, he said, apologizing in advance for a bad pun, “whet the artistic appetite.”

While exact figures were impossible to arrive at, “we estimate that the project will generate more than $55 million in economic activity for our city,” Mr. Bloomberg added. Most of the project’s cost was financed by private donors, but the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation contributed $2 million.

Susan K. Freedman (http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/about/staff_and_board.html#profilefreedman), president of the Public Art Fund (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/public_art_fund/index.html), which commissioned the project, said “Waterfalls” was “the most ambitious project the Public Art Fund has ever undertaken.”

She said the project would “open up new ways for the public to experience art and public space, and in turn the city itself.”

Introducing Mr. Eliasson, the mayor speculated, “Who knows what the Dutch, who arrived in this harbor 350 years ago, would have thought if they could have seen four waterfalls when they got here? They probably would have developed New York even faster.”

Mr. Eliasson, who was wearing a yellow-green dress shirt, said:
It looks really impressive from up here. I am of course incredibly happy today. It’s been quite a journey. And even though it’s a scaffold standing on the shoreline, sucking up the water and letting it fall back down, it’s been a big challenge to achieve this. One of the main things that inspired me through the process of working on this is that as people got on board, there was a sense of common belief in the worth of doing this. … Suddenly I realized that the carrier of this project was the collective spirit, which made it all possible.
He added, “It’s about the public space and it’s not about me. I’m happy to be here today and this is the moment where I say it’s not my work of art anymore, it’s your work of art. … This piece of art is now a part of the city. It belongs to the people of the city.”

He said the scale and location of the project were important factors for him.

“I didn’t really want to do something very big,” he said. “I just wanted to do something that I felt was appropriate to the scale of the city.” He said he hoped that for viewers approaching the project, “you’re suddenly in the space, you’re not looking at it from the outside.” He added that a “great city” “should be inclusive rather than exclusive.”

Mr. Eliasson recalled many nervous nights in recent months as he fretted over the technical aspects of the project. He noted that the waterfalls have been quietly tested (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/waiting-for-the-water-to-fall/) — at night — over the last several weeks, without public fanfare.

The mayor warned that visitors should “use common sense” in experiencing the art work, warning, “Under no circumstances should anyone try to climb the falls or swim around them.”

Asked by a reporter to compare the “Waterfalls” to the “Gates” of 2005, Mr. Bloomberg replied:
I don’t think you can compare them. They’re two different things at two different stages in our city’s development and recovery after 9/11. You can’t compare one piece of art to the other. Each has a message. Each develops a constituency and an audience. Each in its own way is a reflection of genius from different minds.
Another reporter asked the mayor to reflect on his own personal relationship with art.

Noting again that he had studied engineering in his youth, Mr. Bloomberg, who grew up in Medford, Mass., said, “I think in looking back, the one place my parents failed me is they should have beaten me over the head and had me take more courses to appreciate art. … Maybe if I had done that a little earlier I would have had more great experiences.”

He credited his first deputy mayor, Patricia E. Harris, and his cultural affairs commissioner, Kate D. Levin, with spurring his interest in art. (Dr. Levin is married to the sculptor Mark di Suvero, the mayor noted.)

“I like Old Masters, I like big sculptures,” the mayor mused, adding, “To me great art is something that I couldn’t do myself. To me great art is something that tells a story.”

Asked how the project would change views of the waterfront, Mr. Eliasson said that New York had already started to pay more attention to its harbor.

“I think seeing our history, our city has focused on its city center being the prime part of the city, and the last 20, 30 years, since the early 1990s, the city has been turning its face around … and trying to create different values and recreational ideas.” The project, he said, raised the question of “to what extent do we actually see a space, or a city space such as the waterfront, as dynamic?”
Mr. Eliasson added,
You could say that commercial space or commodified spaces are more about consuming or a systematized way of getting involved in a space. This is different. This is not about consuming space. This is about using a space to evaluate your relationship with it. That’s a whole different kind of dynamic space and I see, in terms of our city and the waterfall, a great potential.
He added, “Water has this fantastic ability to be everything for everybody.”

Mr. Eliasson, 41, a Danish-Icelandic artist who is the subject of a retrospective (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3991) at the Museum of Modern Art and the P. S. 1 Contemporary Art Center that closes on Monday, is known for using color, lights, mirrors and natural materials to immerse viewers in sensory-challenging environments.

The Public Art Fund (http://www.publicartfund.org/), a nonprofit group begun in 1977 that installs contemporary works in the city, commissioned the project. Planning began in March 2006, and construction of the concrete and metal scaffolds began in March 2008.

Mr. Bloomberg gave a round of television interviews — ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Today Show,” New York 1 News and Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” — to promote the project, which officials hope will drive tourism to the city.

A temporary park has been specially created on Pier 1, a site of the future Brooklyn Bridge Park, for viewing the “Waterfalls.” The city’s Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Public Art Fund, has created a bike route around the project; the route is marked by waterfall icons on streets and existing bike paths.

Circle Line Downtown, the official water tour operator for the “Waterfalls,” is offering free and discounted daily boat tours to view the project. A number of free tickets for the official 30-minute tour is available each day by calling (866) 925-4631.

The free Governors Island and Staten Island ferries also provide views of the two southernmost waterfalls. The Staten Island ferry runs daily, and the seven-minute Governors Island Ferry will operate on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the duration of the project.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

Guide to Viewing the Waterfalls

Bicycle Views (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27bwate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin#)

A dedicated bike path has been marked for those who want to tour the falls on two wheels;
a map is available online at nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/bike_the_falls_map.pdf (http://nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/bike_the_falls_map.pdf).

The bike route on the map begins at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side, crosses the bridge, wends through Brooklyn Heights and the downtown area before it sends the rider back across the Manhattan Bridge. At the end of the Manhattan Bridge the route ducks through a corner of Chinatown and then sends the rider down the east side of the island, finishing at the South Ferry station, where a ferry to Governors Island is available.

The bike path is marked throughout with blue chevrons and waterfalls logos painted onto the street, but their scarcity at times can lead to some confusion. Make sure to bring a copy of the map itself. When in doubt, follow established bike lanes (especially in the section through downtown Brooklyn and to the Manhattan Bridge).

While you could cover the bike route in around 90 minutes, it would be a shame to do so. Plan on spending a lazy afternoon visiting the viewing sites and enjoying the many strata of the New York that you’ll be riding through. And don’t feel anchored to the bike path’s starting and ending points. It’s easy to ride pieces of the route, or to do it in any order that suits you.

Bike and Roll, a bicycle rental and tour company, offers waterfalls tours daily from Pier 17, South Street Seaport, at 3 and 6:30 p.m. The cost is $40 per person, including bike and helmet rental. For reservations call (866) 736-8224. Friday through Sunday, this weekend only, the guided tours, including the bike rentals, will be free. Reservations must be made in advance; space is limited.

On Governors Island, Fridays through Oct. 4, adult and children’s bicycles are available free for one hour with a photo ID or credit card. Free limited bicycle loaners are also available through October through the Downtown Alliance at Pier 17; hours and reservations: downtownny.com/bikearound (http://downtownny.com/bikearound).

[The Benniest]

Has anyone got any night pictures of the waterfalls yet?

[lofter1]

The perfect brithday gift for the NYer who has everything ...

Private Tour of Olafur Eliasson’s New York City Waterfalls

Exhibit to Include Champagne, Diamonds and Other
Waterfall-Inspired Accompaniments

NEW YORK (May 5, 2008)

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises (http://www.circleline42.com/index.ihtml?page=nycfalls), operator of New York City’s most famous boat ride, is offering a waterfall-inspired tour for affluent art aficionados seeking a private look at Olfaur Eliasson’s New York City Waterfalls exhibit.

Available from mid-July through mid-October, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises will provide the city’s closest views of this once-in-a-lifetime art experience.

The $50,000 Waterfalls Package will offer the following:

�� Champagne: Dom Perignon and Karl Lagerfeld’s vintage 1998 “A Bottle Named Desire.”

�� Chocolate: Knipschildt’s La Madeline au Truffe, recognized by Forbes as the most expensive chocolate in the world.

�� Diamonds: Tiffany Jazz™ Drop Earrings.

�� Dinner for Two: Six-course meal from Chef Daniel Boulud’s Feast & Fêtes catering.

�� Presidential Suite: A night in one of New York City’s most luxurious presidential suites (guest preferences to be discussed at time of booking).

All of our daily 2-3 hour cruises are already poised to provide unfettered access to the waterfalls, but that wasn’t enough,” said Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises Vice President and General Manager Andreas Sappok. “We had to do something that would be commensurate with this once-in-a-lifetime “WOW” experience. Our $50,000 private cruise offers more than a look at four waterfalls – it provides gold-plated front row seats to an iconic piece of New York history.”

$10,000 Cruise Packages Also Available

[The Benniest]

LOL. $50,000 to see a few waterfalls?

...no. :p

[The Benniest]

If this (http://www.nypost.com/photos/galleries/news/regionalnews/20080627_waterfalls/photo01.jpg) is what it really looks like at night, I'm starting to like this!

:D

[NYC4Life]

^^ That appears to be a render. You can see all 4 waterfalls from the South Street Seaport for free. :D

[Merry]

Sorry, but I think they're really ugly, as in this photo.

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/98968197/large.jpg

Those scaffolding structures are just plain horrible and I can't see what's imaginative about it visually.

The renderings deceptively (and disappointingly) depict much more water flowing, which seems to completely disguise the structure behind it. This looked good.

Perhaps if the water were flowing through the structure as well as from the top of it?

[asg]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/2620735119_144628fd6f_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2621557316_4affc00524_b.jpg

[The Benniest]

Thanks for the pictures. Great views.

Just out of curiosity, is the Staten Island Ferry always that busy? Thanks.

[NYC4Life]

Thanks for the pictures. Great views.

Just out of curiosity, is the Staten Island Ferry always that busy? Thanks.

Since it's always free, commuters and tourists take full advantage.

[MidtownGuy]

I have to agree with Merry. The scaffolding is ugly.

[The Benniest]

...and to must agree with Merry. To many metal bars in the background of the water. :confused:

[NewYorkDoc]

Thanks for the pictures. Great views.

Just out of curiosity, is the Staten Island Ferry always that busy? Thanks.

No.

In the summer there are many more tourists on it than in the winter time. In the nighttime too it's not as crowded.

[The Benniest]

Ok. Thank you. :)

[NYatKNIGHT]

I enjoyed seeing all four from the end of Pier 17, day and night, especially after reading or hearing comments concerning unmet expectations. Maybe that's the key. For me, there are a few comparisons that can be made with The Gates. Though both draw you closer they are better with a big, sweeping view that takes in as much as possible. Also, just as there wasn't much beauty in the orange posts that held up the gates, neither is there in the scaffolding of the waterfalls. But you're not focused on that. Furthermore, people experienced the glory of Central Park itself because they came to see The Gates - an unexpected bonus for many whom I spoke with. Now look at all the people who are enjoying all the sensory thrills of the harbor and East River. So again, the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

[Merry]

^ Very good point, but I can't help balking at the cost and wondering if all those millions could have been better spent but still achieve the same end.

[NYatKNIGHT]

I'm sure you're right about that.

[ablarc]

I enjoyed seeing all four from the end of Pier 17, day and night, especially after reading or hearing comments concerning unmet expectations. Maybe that's the key. For me, there are a few comparisons that can be made with The Gates. Though both draw you closer they are better with a big, sweeping view that takes in as much as possible. Also, just as there wasn't much beauty in the orange posts that held up the gates, neither is there in the scaffolding of the waterfalls. But you're not focused on that. Furthermore, people experienced the glory of Central Park itself because they came to see The Gates - an unexpected bonus for many whom I spoke with. Now look at all the people who are enjoying all the sensory thrills of the harbor and East River. So again, the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
Just saw them. It's exactly as you say.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Observations on an exhibit that was over-hyped, and worse, presented as a money-making event - which wasn't the point.


Monday, June 30, 2008

The Waterfalls Look Fake—Just the Way They Should Be

By now everyone’s had a chance to check out “The New York City Waterfalls” and, if the media’s done its job , you’re probably sick of hearing about the damn things. Good. That’s actually the best thing that could happen to Olafur Eliasson’s installations in the East River.

I attended last week’s press conference, heard the big ideas trumpeted by Susan K. Freeman, president of the Public Art Fund (“the most important art project of this century”), and the even bigger rhetoric blandly intoned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg (“biggest waterfall attraction between Niagara Falls and Victoria Falls”), and I could sense the “greatness” of the project quickly kill its chances of having any “transcendent” effect on viewers.

The “waterfalls” are not beautiful objects to behold. You will not be transported in some sublime fashion by their magnitude. In fact, you’ll probably look like many of the young publicists who took a gander, made a face and whispered, “That’s it?” to the girl in the slightly rumpled Club Monaco ensemble next to her. “Under-whelmed” was the most common response I heard from those who went out of their way to see them over the weekend. And I expected the retort of one onlooker, who told a reporter that she wished there had been some rocks or landscaping to hide the steel scaffolding that supports it.

It’s all to be expected since the waterfalls are the work of an artist interested in challenging ideas of space and nature, perception and expectation. In many ways, Eliasson’s waterfalls are meant to disappoint. There’s no denying that their expense ($15.5 million), coordination (more than 20 permits granted) and cooperation (public/private donors) are truly part of their awesomeness. Who would be willing to battle the bureaucracy (other than Christo and Jean-Claude, of course) to get a work of this scale and complexity completed?

But if your curiosity hasn’t been completely drowned by the boosterish glee, take a second look. Don’t look for a replication of a natural phenomenon, instead, treat it like a Gucci bag in Chinatown and, embrace the fake. The waterfall located against a pillar of the Brooklyn Bridge is the most photographed, but it’s most interesting when seen from an angle, when the scaffolding’s cross-braces repeat the latticework found in the bridge above. When seen from Brooklyn, the waterfall facing south at Manhattan’s Pier 35 mimics the structure of one of the many residential towers, and reinforces Eliasson’s clever observation that “scaffolding is the legacy of New York.” The tallest structure, at 120 feet along a formerly industrial Brooklyn port, perhaps the most intriguing, the way it looks like a giant flume and fits so naturally between the abandoned piers. Finally, then the Governor’s Island waterfall puts the entire project into a clearer perspective, since the height causes it to tower above the tallest structure on the island and creates the most unnatural spectacle of all. (The constant police boat detail is a further reminder that this "public art" is off limits.)

The truth of this project is that the waterfalls actually look like just one more unfinished construction project. Scaffolding, cranes and obstructions to the skyline are so common that we no longer consider them as out of the ordinary. But this art installation is meant to not only turn our attention to the waterways, as Eliasson has insisted, it is also intended to make us even more aware of New York’s artificial environment. Even Central Park, the most “natural” setting we know, was completely crafted by the designers, every boulder placed to look more real, every tree planted and pruned to cause us to gasp with delight at its “naturalness.” Its power is in its deception.

I grew up in a small town in north Texas called Wichita Falls that didn’t contain one waterfall—until they created it. It was in the late 1980s, and an artificial waterfall was constructed along a tributary of the Red River. We schoolchildren joyfully raised money to put in the brick paths, the faux rocks and landscaping along with the rest of the community that had been spurred into civic action. Camera crews showed up (even Willard Scott from the Today show) and tourists came from as far as Tokyo (or so they claimed). They wanted to see the “falls put back in Wichita Falls.” But let me tell you, fake nature isn’t so awe-inspiring. Understanding the lie that is nature in any urban environment, Eliasson lays bare “nature’s” infrastructure—something even more stunning to behold.

©2007 New York Press

[asg]

I thought the volume of water was quite impressive - much more than I imagined.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2631537909_6883ff2e31_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2631537909_6883ff2e31_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2631536545_547ea78d94_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2631536545_547ea78d94_b.jpg

[NYC4Life]

From: NY1

Kayakers Run Into Trouble Near East River Waterfalls

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/images/live/144/286720.jpg

July 11, 2008

Two male kayakers were pulled from the East River by harbor police Friday after strong currents pulled them near the Waterfalls art project.

Police were patrolling near the man-made waterfall created by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, when they saw six kayakers gathered around the installment.

The kayakers were hanging onto a security barrier which had been pushed back by the current.

The police’s harbor unit said it was a difficult operation.

"It was really strong, where I threw the life ring,” said Tyreon Cook of the NYPD Harbor Unit. “I took several attempts to grab [a kayaker] with the life ring but he couldn't hold on. And then when he finally held on, I tied the life ring up to the boat and my partner pulled back, so that we could get him in safer waters so we could get him on the boat."

"The [Waterfalls are] wonderful for the city and a wonderful art project, but it’s also a safety concern for the NYPD that everyone remains a safe distance from the Waterfalls, because it can be dangerous," said Lt. John Harkins of the Harbor Unit.

The rescued men were doing well Friday night.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Relentless nature

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/3833/waterfalls01hh0.th.jpg (http://img170.imageshack.us/my.php?image=waterfalls01hh0.jpg)

[scumonkey]

You would think after the kayak accident last week that people would learn.........:rolleyes:
While hanging out at Battery Park Sunday, we watched as police boats
had to be sent out- time after time, to tell Kayakers
to keep away from the base of the falls.

[asg]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/2640306211_8d05775ff8_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2641118814_2b4173ef34_b.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/claydonyc/sets/72157605999112092/

[The Benniest]

The only waterfall that I really prefer is the one under the Brooklyn Bridge, mainly because of how wide it is and looks.

The others show way to much of the bars. :confused:

[nycla3]

OK...now it just looks like the BB is takin' a leak...time for it the waterfalls to go away.

[Front_Porch]

they're better at night.

ali r.

[The Benniest]

^^^ I agree. I have a really great picture of the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall at night from a boat.

I'll post it when I get back to Iowa...

... :(

[brianac]

July 25, 2008, 4:57 pm

A Shady Vantage for Waterfall Watching

By David W. Dunlap (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/author/ddunlap/)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/25/nyregion/shade.190.jpg
The drainpipes from the F.D.R. Drive have an almost humanoid form — like industrial-age caryatids. (Photo: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times)

Elevated highways have few friends among city planners, and with good reason. The waterfronts of Boston and San Francisco improved immeasurably with the removal of the Central Artery and Embarcadero viaducts.

But say this for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive: It does provide shade along the East River esplanade that is part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/mwg/mwghome.shtml).

And when there are monumental waterfalls (http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/) to be seen, under the Brooklyn Bridge and just north of the Manhattan Bridge, a little bit of shade on a summer morning is all a reporter needs to forget momentarily that he’s on assignment.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/a-shady-vantage-for-waterfall-watching/

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[The Benniest]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/benthal/nyc-july/IMG_1078.jpg

[antinimby]

The bridge sprung a leak. :D

[AmeriKenArtist]

...is part of the Manhattan Bridge gets cleaned!!

[NYC4Life]

NY1

Restaurant Owner Blaming Dying Plants On Waterfalls Exhibit

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/images/live/146/290080.jpg

August 05, 2008

Many people have found the New York City Waterfalls art project pleasing to the eye, but it appears to be having a less pleasant affect on the trees at a Brooklyn café.

Trees and plants at the River Café next to the Brooklyn Bridge have started turning brown even though it's still summer. The restaurant's owner says the saltwater spray from the nearby waterfall installation is causing the change, as saltwater interferes with a plant's photosynthesis process.

The exhibit began at four East River sites in June and will run until late October.

[AmeriKenArtist]

Through the slats...

[brianac]

Hours Are Cut for ‘Waterfalls’

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 30, 2008

The four waterfalls created by the artist Olafur Eliasson (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/olafur_eliasson/index.html?inline=nyt-per) in the East River will have their hours of operation cut in half after complaints that the art installation was damaging waterfront plantings in Brooklyn.

Beginning Sept. 8, the four falls, part of Mr. Eliasson’s “New York City Waterfalls” project, will operate about 50 hours a week instead of 101 hours, officials announced on Saturday.

Critics said salty mist from the waterfalls has destroyed shrubs, trees and plants on the Brooklyn Promenade.

The Brooklyn Heights Association had asked the city to dismantle the waterfalls after Labor Day (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/l/labor_day/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) instead of on Oct. 13 as scheduled. Messages left for the association on Saturday were not immediately returned.

The installation’s new hours of operation will be 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/nyregion/31waterfalls.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[brianac]

The Brooklyn Heights Association had asked the city to dismantle the waterfalls after Labor Day (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/l/labor_day/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) instead of on Oct. 13 as scheduled.

Reminder. The waterfalls are due to be turned off on Monday next. October 13th. 2008.

[brianac]

Waterfalls Exit, but With Unintended Impact

By MANNY FERNANDEZ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/manny_fernandez/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: October 12, 2008

Olafur Eliasson (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/olafur_eliasson/index.html?inline=nyt-per), the Danish-Icelandic artist who created the four waterfall exhibits on the East River, has said that he wanted people looking at them to reconsider their relationship to the surroundings. Scott Stamford has been doing just that, though not in the way Mr. Eliasson intended.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/13/nyregion/13waterfalls_650.jpgMichelle V. Agins/The New York Times
Trees at the River Café in Brooklyn have lost their leaves.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/13/nyregion/13waterfalls2_650.jpg
Salt mist from the waterfall exhibit is being blamed by the cafe, where a manager says she “can taste the salt.”

Mr. Stamford is the manager of the River Café, a popular scenic restaurant on Water Street in Brooklyn, steps away from the waterfall installed under the Brooklyn Bridge. Whenever the wind blew in from the north, which is to say often, the restaurant’s workers, patrons and windows would get covered with a saltwater spray from the waterfall, Mr. Stamford said.

“I consider it a major impact on our ability to make guests happy,” he said of the waterfall.

The restaurant’s trees and plants also suffered damage from the saltwater, as a sign at the restaurant bluntly states. On a circular brick driveway in front of the restaurant, the trees are empty of leaves, as are the trees closest to the waterfall in the nearby garden. On the restaurant’s outdoor deck, many of the ferns, begonias and other plants had to be replaced. In recent months, a number of customers waiting for a table outside the restaurant were seen leaving after getting wet.

“You can taste the salt,” said Nicole Zoppi, 25, the restaurant’s reservation manager. “At times, it’s like it’s raining. People will come out to get into their car and it’s covered with a thick film of salt.”

The waterfalls exhibit — four giant water-pumping contraptions made of construction scaffolding that collectively churned 35,000 gallons of East River water each minute — draws to a close Monday after a 15-week run that began June 26.

The waterfalls took a team of nearly 200 designers, engineers and construction experts to build, at a cost of $15.5 million. The four structures were the city’s biggest public art project since “The Gates” in 2005, when thousands of gates draped with saffron-colored fabric panels were positioned along Central Park’s pathways. Organized by the nonprofit Public Art Fund (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/public_art_fund/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and the City of New York, the waterfalls have their own Web site, www.nycwaterfalls.org (http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/), and were the main attraction of special boat trips operated by Circle Line Downtown. They generated hundreds of homages on YouTube.

Though they caused a great deal of gawking and picture-taking, the waterfalls also stirred a fair amount of controversy.

Mr. Stamford, Ms. Zoppi and a number of Brooklyn residents said two waterfalls — the one under the Brooklyn Bridge and one near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade — wreaked havoc on trees and other plants at the restaurant and along the Promenade. The city’s oldest and largest neighborhood association, the Brooklyn Heights Association, sent soil samples to the Cornell Nutrient Analysis Laboratory (http://cnal.cals.cornell.edu/) at Cornell University (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/cornell_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org).

The results of some samples taken at the River Café and near the Promenade showed high levels of salt in the soil.

“Except for a few of the evergreen holly bushes, everything within the range of the waterfall turned brown and lost leaves,” said Judy Stanton, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association. “It looked as if wintertime had come to the Promenade.”

In response to complaints and based on a recommendation by the city’s parks department, the Public Art Fund cut the waterfalls’ operating hours in half beginning in September, to 49.5 hours per week from 101 hours per week. Crews were dispatched to hose down trees in affected areas with fresh water once or twice a day.

City and Public Art Fund officials said hundreds of thousands of people viewed the exhibit, which they said was an artistic, cultural and economic success, despite the reduction in hours.

The city’s Economic Development Corporation is preparing a report that will include an estimate of the number of spectators and the economic activity that the waterfalls created. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloomberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per) and other city officials had said that the exhibit was expected to generate $55 million in economic activity during its run. Jason Post, a spokesman for the mayor, said that anecdotal reports suggested that the exhibit met or exceeded those expectations, citing sold-out boat tours as one example.

A spokeswoman for the Public Art Fund said that the daily watering improved the condition of the trees and decreased the salinity in the soil, which is also being tested by the parks department. “While the adverse impact of the mist from the waterfalls appears not to have been fully appreciated by any party involved in the review of the plans for the project, it was immediately addressed when the impact on the trees appeared,” the spokeswoman, Stacy Bolton said.

On Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn, the structures received mixed reviews from onlookers. Some said they were beautiful and should become permanent exhibitions on the waterfront, while others said they looked like, well, scaffolding.

Ben Corman, 21, a valet at the River Café, said that if he did not work so close to one, and go home smelling like the East River, he would probably like them. Stacy Pisone, 44, a restaurant owner at a playground near the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge, said she would be sad to see them go. “As soon as they went on today everybody went ‘Aah, look, the waterfalls are on,’ ” she said.

But Gene Kezena, 67, a retired engineer who lives in Brooklyn Heights and was relaxing Sunday on the Promenade, described them as “kind of ridiculous.”

“It was almost like a Coney Island sort of thing,” he said. “I looked at it and said, ‘It’s not exactly Niagara Falls.’ ”

Ann Farmer contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/nyregion/13waterfalls.html?ref=nyregion

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[NYC4Life]

NY1

10/21/2008 10:07 PM

Waterfalls Art Installation A Financial Success

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/2326/39297773wr1.jpg

The summer's Waterfalls arts project churned up some much needed cash for the city.

The mayor says it floated an estimated $69 million into the area's economy, far exceeding initial projections.

The public art work project involved the construction of four waterfalls -- one under the Brooklyn Bridge, one off Governors Island, another between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn and one at Pier 35 in Manhattan.

An estimated 1.4 million people came to the waterfront to see the exhibit from June 26 through October 13.


Copyright © 2008 NY1 News. All rights reserved.