Commissioned in the late 1800s by one of De Peyster&rsquo;s great-great-great-grandsons, the seated solemn figure was created by the sculptor George Edwin Bissell. But no sooner had work begun on a foundation for the statue in Battery Park than it became the target of criticism and the city had to look for a new location.&ldquo;The sentiment which promotes the erection of the statue to Abraham De Pey&shy;ster is altogether commendable,&rdquo; the New York Times wrote in spring of 1895. &ldquo;But Battery Park is not the place for the effigy. There is no room for it. We have gone too far in the park statuary already.&rdquo;Over yet other objections, the statue went to Bowling Green in 1896. (&ldquo;Bowling Green is such a historic spot,&rdquo; the president of the National Sculpture So&shy;ciety told the Times, &ldquo;that the question naturally arises why it is not reserved for some artistic group, rather than merely a portrait statue.&rdquo;)But after only a short time in Bowling Green, De Peyster was donated to Franklin &amp; Marshall College in Pennsylvania. (Ac&shy;cording to the school&rsquo;s website, it was a controversy over the scale and location of the statue that forced the move.) A slightly smaller replica was fabricated and placed back in the park. It stayed for 76 years. But in 1972, Bowling Green underwent a major renovation and it was decided that De Peyster had to go.

 Then rested in Hanover Square. Atop a new pedestal, he stood there until 2004, when the Parks Department turned the site into the British Memorial Garden. This time, he had no place to go but storage. 

 It was removed and put into storage to make room for the British Memorial Garden.  

Mayor Abraham De Peyster (1657&ndash;1728) was born in New Amsterdam, now known as Manhattan. De Peyster came from a prosperous mercantile family. He was influential in the young city; he had many positions, including Alderman, Dutch Mayor, member of the King`s Council, and acting Governor. By the end of his life, De Peyster was allegedly one of the city`s wealthiest inhabitants. The sculpture has moved around several times in lower Manhattan. He among other things, donated the land for the original City Hall, which later became Federal Hall.

&amp;nbsp;That building was later renamed&amp;nbsp;Federal Hall, which briefly served as the first capitol of the United States, and the site of the&amp;nbsp;first inauguration of George Washington&amp;nbsp;as president. It was replaced in 1842 with the Greek Renaissance structure that stands there today.  

Before his death in 1728, De Peyster commissioned the creation of a bell to be placed in Manhattan&amp;rsquo;s Middle Dutch Church, then under construction. Cast in Amsterdam in 1731, the bell is known today as the "Liberty Bell" and is located at the&amp;nbsp;Middle Collegiate Church.  

ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER1685 ALDERMAN, 1691-95 MAYOR, 1701 COMPTROLLER,AND 1708 RECEIVER GENERAL OF THE PORT OF NEW YORK;1698 MEMBER OF EARL BELLOMONT'S COUNCIL1698 ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT1700 COLONEL COMMANDING REGIMENT OF MILITIA OR CITY TRAINED BANDS1701 CHIEF JUSTICE; 1701-PRESIDENT OF THE KINGS COUNCIL AND THUSACTING GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW YORK.1706-1721 TREASURER OF THE PROVINCES OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY.BORN 8TH JULY, 1657 -- DIED 2ND AUG 1728.JOHANNES, COL. ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER'S FATHER WAS BURGOMASTER 1673, ALDERMAN 1666-69, 1673-76,AND DEPUTY MAYOR, N.Y. 1677.JOHANNES, JR. HIS SON, ALDERMAN, 1700-1-10, MAYOR 1698.

Erected byJohn Watts DePeyster7th Generation in direct descent Resident of and 6th Born in 1st ward City of New York

Foley Square, Thomas Paine Park

Hanover Square

Abraham De Peyster Statue

 The second stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is the British Memorial Garden, which was dedicated to the United Kingdom after in memory of the 67 British subjects killed in the September 11 attacks. At this location once stood a statue of Colonial Mayor Abraham De Peyster, which now sits in a Parks Department warehouse. 

 Mayor Abraham De Peyster (1657&ndash;1728) was born in New Amsterdam, now known as Manhattan. De Peyster came from a prosperous mercantile family. He was influential in the young city; he had many positions, including alderman, mayor, member of the king&rsquo;s council, and acting governor. By the end of his life, De Peyster was allegedly one of the city&rsquo;s wealthiest inhabitants. The sculpture was removed and put into storage in 2003 to make room for the British Memorial Garden. 

This 1903 statue by Jonathan Scott Hartley (1845&ndash;1912) depicts the esteemed Swedish-American engineer and inventor John Ericsson (1803&ndash;1889), who helped to revolutionize military-maritime technology with his ironclad warship, the Monitor.The Monitor was Ericsson`s response to the Confederacy`s intent in early 1861 to ironclad its warship, the Merrimac. Ericsson built the Monitor at the Continental Iron Works foundry in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; its engine and machinery were fabricated in Greenwich Village at the Delamater Iron Works. He died on March 8, 1889, in New York City. Less than four years after his death, the distinguished sculptor Johnathan Scott Hartley was commissioned by the state to create a larger-than-life bronze portrait of Ericsson, which was dedicated April 26, 1893 in Battery Park. The pedestal was designed by architect Frank Wallis.Ten years later the sculptor, dissatisfied with his first version, crafted a modified statue, cast at the local Roman Bronze Works, and dedicated on August 1, 1903, a day after the centennial of Ericsson`s birth. In 1939 a monument to Ericsson and the Monitor was unveiled in McGolrick Park, Brooklyn. The sculpture in Battery Park depicts the bearded Ericsson holding a boat model in his hand. The pedestal features inset bronze bas-reliefs, which illustrate significant naval battles involving the Monitor and Princeton, as well as an array of Ericsson`s mechanical inventions. Over time the monument suffered extensive damage, the result of weathering, vandalism, and even a fire. In 1996 the sculpture was conserved by Parks` monuments crew, and as part of overall improvements to Battery Park, the sculpture is slated to be moved from its present location to a more prominent site near a perimeter entrance.

Battery Park

John Ericsson

 Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Arts and Antiquities of NYC Parks, sheds light on the John Ericsson sculpture in Battery Park. The sculpture depicts Ericsson, a Swedish-American inventor and engineer, who was important in revolutionizing maritime and military technology and travel. 

 Anne Lewison, architect and board member of cultureNOW, reads a selection from the book, Manhattan Outdoor Sculpture, by Margot Gayle and Michele Cohen, about the statue of John Ericsson, noted inventor, by Jonathan Scott Hartley. 

 Strawberry Fields is a living memorial to the world-famous singer, songwriter, and social activist John Lennon (1940-1980). This area of Central Park was named in 1981, and the re-landscaped Strawberry Fields was dedicated in 1985. In 1984, Yoko Ono contributed $500,000 to redesign and renovate Strawberry Fields, and an equivalent amount for an ongoing maintenance endowment. Landscape architect Bruce Kelly designed a meditative Garden of Peace, rich in trees, shrubs and flowers, which was integrated with the historic landscape of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) and Calvert Vaux (1824-1895). At the western apex of the garden, Neopolitan artisans crafted a circular black and white mosaic emblem into the pavement, containing a starburst pattern and the solitary word, "Imagine," the title of one of Lennon's most famous songs. 150 nations were enlisted to contribute plants to the garden, thus embodying the principle of world peace for which Lennon was such an influential advocate. On October 9, 1985, on the 45th anniversary of Lennon's birth, Strawberry Fields was dedicated, and has become a pilgrimage site for visitors to New York from around the world. 

Strawberry Fields, Central Park W. and 72nd St.

Imagine Mosaic in Central Park

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses 'Strawberry Fields', an installation in Central Park dedicated to John Lennon. 

George Washington was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father of the United States, who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War, and presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which established the Constitution of the United States and a federal government for the United States

Original Continental Army Manuscript Orderly Book

   NYC Department of Parks and Recreation Art in the Parks

Mount Vernon

George Washington Birthplace National Monument

1st Presidential Mansion

2nd Presidential Mansion

George Washington Gravesite

George Washington

This sculpture depicts the moment after President Washington took the oath of office, which he did at Federal Hall on Wall Street in 1789.

In 1851, a committee of concerned citizens interested in erecting a monument to Washington in New York approached sculptor Horatio Greenough (1805&ndash;1852), known for his huge classical marble portrait of Washington. Simultaneously, the committee also invited Henry Kirke Brown to submit a design, though it was unclear whether he was to assist Greenough or compete with him for artistic selection. Any prospect of collaboration evaporated with Greenough`s premature death in December 1852. Though Brown, like many of his generation, made an obligatory visit to Italy to study, he was part of a group of sculptors attempting to establish a truly American sculptural idiom. His first major public commission was a statue of De Witt Clinton (1769&ndash;1828) which he completed for Greenwood Cemetery in 1852. Working at a specially equipped studio in Brooklyn, and assisted extensively by John Quincy Adams Ward (1830&ndash;1910), who himself would attain renown as a sculptor, Brown spent 18 months modeling the horse and rider. The moment Brown depicts is that of Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783, when Washington reclaimed the city from the British. With outstretched hand, he signals to the troops in a gesture of benediction, a sculptural motif indebted to precedents from antiquity, most notably the Marcus Aurelius statue on Rome`s Capitaline Hill. Yet Brown`s attention to detail, and the life with which he infuses his subject, unites classical gestures and pose with what has been described as a &ldquo;simple and direct naturalism.&rdquo; The piece was cast at the Ames foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts, one of the first foundries in the United States capable of such large-scale quality work. The names of the donors are inscribed on the skyward face of the bronze sub-base. Brown also sculpted the statue of Abraham Lincoln on the north side of park. On June 5, 1856, the Washington statue was installed on a simple granite base designed by Richard Upjohn. The event drew thousands of spectators. One month later, on July 4, the statue was formally conveyed to the custody of the City of New York. At that time the sculpture stood in a fenced enclosure in the middle of the street, at the southeast corner of the square. As part of the redesign and reconstruction of the park in 1929-30, the sculpture was moved from this traffic island (where it was prone to vehicular traffic and pollution) to its present location and placed centrally in the south plaza. Here it has stood in alignment with Henry Kirke Brown`s sculpture of Lincoln&mdash;relocated at that time to the northern park path. In 1989, the sculpture was conserved, and the missing sword and bridle strap recreated through the Adopt-A-Monument Program, a joint venture of Parks, the Municipal Art Society, and the New York City Art Commission. The Citywide Monuments Conservation Program, a public-private initiative, conserved the sculpture in 2001, and performed additional restoration of the bronze in 2004 and granite pedestal in 2006. In the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the George Washington sculpture served as a touchstone for collective grieving and public expression, and became the central focus of a massive around-the-clock community vigil and a provisional shrine. These events reaffirmed the symbolic power of New York City`s most venerable outdoor work of art.

  Art in the Parks - NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

  NYC Department of Transportation - Urban Art Program

on 14th between Union Square East & Union Square West

George Washington at Union Square

 This memorial and tiny park are named for Isidore and Ida Straus--he a former congressman and onetime co-owner of Macy's--who died on the Titanic in 1912. The memorial here to Ida Straus, which depicts her reclining elegantly, commemorates her decision to remain with her husband on board the sinking ship rather than leave on a lifeboat with the women and children. 

It was known as Schuyler Square when acquired by the city in 1895 and was renamed Bloomingdale Square in 1907  

husband and wife, he a United States congressman and co-owner of Macy's, who died together on RMS TitanicOn the memorial is carved a passage from&nbsp;Second Samuel&nbsp;1:23 "Lovely and Pleasant were they in life and in their death they were not divided"The passage refers to Ida's choice to stay with her beloved husband, Isidor, rather than get safely into a lifeboat.[

on 106th St., between Broadway and West End

Memory

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Straus Memorial, honoring the lives of Ida and Isidor Straus, who perished on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. 

 The Macy's Department Store at Herald Square was the World's Largest Store until 2009, when it was surpassed by Shinsegae in Centum City, South Korea. Macy's has produced the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City since 1924, and sponsored the City's annual Fourth of July fireworks display since 1976. 

Macy's Department Store

 Jay Valgora talks about the history of Macy's Department Store, some of the innovative features and the $400 million renovation that he led. 

Neil Estern's bust of John F. Kennedy was first installed in Grand Army Plaza on May 31, 1965. When the Plaza underwent a major renovation in 2002, the bust was removed. On August 24, 2010, the bust was re-installed and rededicated in the Plaza. 

John F. Kennedy

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the John F. Kennedy bust in Grand Army Plaza. 

 This sculpture depicts the Italian explorer and navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485-1528). He is known for being the first European to have entered New York Bay. Verrazzano wrote a journal based on his travels across the ocean. This document later served to help other explorers such as Henry Hudson. 

 At the time of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909, the Italian community was mobilized by Carlo Barsotti, the editor of the Italian language newspaper&amp;nbsp;Il Progresso, to contribute funds toward the creation of this statue.  

In 1523, with the support of the French king Francois I, as well as Florentine bankers, Verrazzano set sail on the ship&amp;nbsp;Dauphine&amp;nbsp;in search of a passage to the Pacific Ocean and the Far East. On this voyage, Verrazzano explored the coast line now comprising the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada.

Giovanni da Verrazzano Statue

 Jonathan Kuhn, the Director of Art and Antiquities for NYC Parks, discusses the Giovanni Da Verrazzano in Battery Park. Giovanni Da Verrazzano was one of the first European explorers in New York Bay. After the rise of Italian immigration in the early 20th century, the Italian community decided to raise this sculpture in Battery Park. 

The monument Triumph of the Human Spirit is one of the world's largest site-specific installations, venerating the experience of African American enslavement. Towering at over fifty feet and weighing more than 300 tons, the massive black granite sculpture was built on a rediscovered African burial ground. The sculpture depicts an abstract female antelope form, mounted on a boat shaped base. According to the artist, the piece is inspired by "Chi Wara" an antelope effigy from Mali, West Africa that symbolizes a responsibility for continuing the next generation and for celebrating a successful harvest. Triumph of the Human Spirit serves as a monument to honor all Africans brought to America but is also dedicated to all ancestors as well as the future generations to come.Triumph of the Human Spirit styled after an antelope-inspired African headdress worn by the people of Mali, West Africa The base of the sculpture contains a replica of the iron lock that shackled artist Lorenzo Pace great grandfather when he was brought to America from Africa.

TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT LORENZO PACE (1943- THIS SCULPTURE WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE CITY OF NEW YORKTHROUGH THE PERCENT FOR ART PROGRAM2000RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI, MAYOR&nbsp;SCHUYLER G. CHAPIN, COMMISSIONER OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS&nbsp;HENRY J. STERN, COMMISSIONER OF PARKS &amp; RECREATION&nbsp;

And is set within an elongated boat-like structure that symbolizes canoes used by Native Americans, as well as the &amp;ldquo;middle passage&amp;rdquo; or overseas journey of enslaved Africans.  

Besides its universal message, it was created with the artist&amp;rsquo;s own personal ancestry in mind, and its granite base contains a replica of the inherited lock and key which were used to enslave his great-great grandfather Steve Pace. Radiating from the fountain are five granite paving bands that terminate with large bronze relief medallions, each representing an epoch in the history of Foley Square and its environs. They were designed by R.G. Roesch and realized by sculptor Gregg LeFevre. The medallion at the intersection of Reade and Lafayette Street commemorates the African Burial Ground, complementing Pace&amp;rsquo;s sculpture and providing additional images and historical context.    

Triumph of the Human Spirit

 The monument Triumph of the Human Spirit is one of the world's largest site-specific installations, venerating the experience of African American enslavement. Towering at over fifty feet and weighing more than 300 tons, the massive black granite sculpture was built on a rediscovered African burial ground. The sculpture depicts an abstract female antelope form, mounted on a boat shaped base. According to the artist, the piece is inspired by "Chi Wara" an antelope effigy from West Africa that symbolizes a responsibility for continuing the next generation and for celebrating a successful harvest. Triumph of the Human Spirit serves as a monument to honor all Africans brought to America but is also dedicated to all ancestors as well as the future generations to come. 

The glowing bronze of this statue on a rock outcropping near the East Drive at 67th Street reflects the loving pats of countless children and adults who recall the story of a heroic dog. In January 1925, the city of Nome, Alaska experienced an outbreak of diphtheria. At that time, Nome had a population of 1,429 people and there was only enough antitoxin serum in distant Anchorage to treat about 300 people exposed to the disease. A train line did run over 325 miles from Anchorage to Nenana, the station closest to Nome, but Nome was icebound seven months out of the year. Alaska's two open-cockpit planes were not safe in the frigid and windy weather. A relay of mushers and their dog-sled teams was the only way to deliver the fur-wrapped twenty-pound package of serum to the ailing community 674 miles from Nenana. The route followed the old Iditarod Trail used by mail drivers from Anchorage to Nome (now the route of the dog-sled championships). The 20 teams of over 200 dogs covered the frozen terrain at about six miles per hour, in blizzard conditions with temperatures of 50 degrees below zero. An international audience listened over their radios and read in their newspapers of the race to Nome. The last musher, Gunnar Kasson, and his team lead by Balto, a black and white Alaskan malamute, raced over the frozen tundra in only five days and seven hours - a world record time. Within days after the arrival of the serum, the epidemic, which had claimed five lives, was over.

Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice across treacherous waters through arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken nome in the winter of 1925Endurance fidelity intelligence&nbsp;&nbsp;

Central Park

Balto

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the statue of Balto, a famous Siberian husky responsible for delivering diphtheria antitoxin to the town of Nome, Alaska. 

 Located in an alcove on the west side of the park, this ornamental fountain is one of the oldest in the city's parks. Consisting of a bronze statuary group atop a granite stepped pedestal, it was crafted by German sculptor Karl Adolph Donndorf (1835&ndash;1916), and donated by philanthropist Daniel Willis James (1832&ndash;1907) to promote public health as well as the virtue of charity. With completion of the Croton Reservoir aqueduct in 1842, New York City became the beneficiary of a consistent supply of fresh water, its citizens previously having relied upon (often contaminated) well water. This advance in public health was the cause of great celebration, marked by fountains erected soon after in City Hall Park and Union Square. By the late 19th century, numerous outdoor decorative drinking fountains had been erected throughout the city for the benefit of "man and beast". Few survived to modern times, and the James Fountain, with its lavish sculptural detailing, is one of the finer examples still extant. This fountain was conceived by its donor Willis and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. They retained the services of Professor J. Leonard Corning of Morristown, New Jersey to assist in identifying an appropriate sculptor to realize the project whose goal, in Corning's words at the dedication, was "the threefold intent of contributing to the physical comfort of the people, and at the same time teaching a lesson of religion and cultivating a healthy appreciation of art." In 1877 they selected Donndorf, newly installed as the head of the sculpture department in the Art Academy of Stuttgart, Germany. Donndorf also completed statuary on the massive Luther reformation monument in the German city of Worms, after the death of its designer and his mentor, Ernst Riestchel, and is responsible for many other public statues in Germany, such as those of Bach and Goethe in Carlsbad. For the fountain in Union Square he created a figural grouping with biblical associations, in which a mother holds an infant and a water pitcher, as a small boy stands at her side. The sculptor's own family modeled for the tableau. On the four sides are bronze lions heads that serve as water spouts, and there are additional sculptural flourishes depicting butterflies and salamanders. At one time metal cups were chained to the piece to permit passersby to quench their thirst. The elaborate granite base is of pink granite quarried in Sweden. The project dragged on as the sculptor labored "to execute a work which for truth to nature and conscientious attention to detail, should be as fit for a museum as for a public park." A new model for the infant was enlisted, as the original baby had outgrown his role. In the winter of 1879-80, the sculptor suffered a severe setback when his almost completed full sized clay model collapsed due to a severe frost. He recreated his original, and at long last the bronze was cast at G. Howaldt Foundry in Brunswick and the fountain delivered overseas. On 

 Located in an alcove on the west side of the park, this ornamental fountain is one of the oldest in the city's parks. Consisting of a bronze statuary group atop a granite stepped pedestal, it was crafted by German sculptor Karl Adolph Donndorf (1835&amp;ndash;1916), and donated by philanthropist Daniel Willis James (1832&amp;ndash;1907) to promote public health as well as the virtue of charity. With completion of the Croton Reservoir aqueduct in 1842, New York City became the beneficiary of a consistent supply of fresh water, its citizens previously having relied upon (often contaminated) well water. This advance in public health was the cause of great celebration, marked by fountains erected soon after in City Hall Park and Union Square. By the late 19th century, numerous outdoor decorative drinking fountains had been erected throughout the city for the benefit of "man and beast". Few survived to modern times, and the James Fountain, with its lavish sculptural detailing, is one of the finer examples still extant. This fountain was conceived by its donor Willis and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. They retained the services of Professor J. Leonard Corning of Morristown, New Jersey to assist in identifying an appropriate sculptor to realize the project whose goal, in Corning's words at the dedication, was "the threefold intent of contributing to the physical comfort of the people, and at the same time teaching a lesson of religion and cultivating a healthy appreciation of art." In 1877 they selected Donndorf, newly installed as the head of the sculpture department in the Art Academy of Stuttgart, Germany. Donndorf also completed statuary on the massive Luther reformation monument in the German city of Worms, after the death of its designer and his mentor, Ernst Riestchel, and is responsible for many other public statues in Germany, such as those of Bach and Goethe in Carlsbad. For the fountain in Union Square he created a figural grouping with biblical associations, in which a mother holds an infant and a water pitcher, as a small boy stands at her side. The sculptor's own family modeled for the tableau. On the four sides are bronze lions heads that serve as water spouts, and there are additional sculptural flourishes depicting butterflies and salamanders. At one time metal cups were chained to the piece to permit passersby to quench their thirst. The elaborate granite base is of pink granite quarried in Sweden. The project dragged on as the sculptor labored "to execute a work which for truth to nature and conscientious attention to detail, should be as fit for a museum as for a public park." A new model for the infant was enlisted, as the original baby had outgrown his role. In the winter of 1879-80, the sculptor suffered a severe setback when his almost completed full sized clay model collapsed due to a severe frost. He recreated his original, and at long last the bronze was cast at G. Howaldt Foundry in Brunswick and the fountain delivered overseas. On   CultureNOW

Union Square Drinking Fountain

 Located in an alcove on the west side of the park, this ornamental fountain is one of the oldest in the city's parks. Consisting of a bronze statuary group atop a granite stepped pedestal, it was crafted by German sculptor Karl Adolph Donndorf (1835&ndash;1916), and donated by philanthropist Daniel Willis James (1832&ndash;1907) to promote public health as well as the virtue of charity. With completion of the Croton Reservoir aqueduct in 1842, New York City became the beneficiary of a consistent supply of fresh water, its citizens previously having relied upon (often contaminated) well water. This advance in public health was the cause of great celebration, marked by fountains erected soon after in City Hall Park and Union Square. By the late 19th century, numerous outdoor decorative drinking fountains had been erected throughout the city for the benefit of "man and beast". Few survived to modern times, and the James Fountain, with its lavish sculptural detailing, is one of the finer examples still extant. This fountain was conceived by its donor Willis and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. They retained the services of Professor J. Leonard Corning of Morristown, New Jersey to assist in identifying an appropriate sculptor to realize the project whose goal, in Corning's words at the dedication, was "the threefold intent of contributing to the physical comfort of the people, and at the same time teaching a lesson of religion and cultivating a healthy appreciation of art." In 1877 they selected Donndorf, newly installed as the head of the sculpture department in the Art Academy of Stuttgart, Germany. Donndorf also completed statuary on the massive Luther reformation monument in the German city of Worms, after the death of its designer and his mentor, Ernst Riestchel, and is responsible for many other public statues in Germany, such as those of Bach and Goethe in Carlsbad. For the fountain in Union Square he created a figural grouping with biblical a 

 This sculpture honors the gay rights movement and commemorates the events at the Stonewall Inn opposite the park in which it stands that gave rise to the movement. Stonewall Inn was a bar and dance hall which, like numerous local establishments, catered to the homosexual community of Greenwich Village. In response to a police raid of Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, a group of activists organized the first gay and lesbian march from Washington Square to Stonewall to protest the crackdown and advocate the legalization of gay bars. Peter Putnam commissioned this monument a decade later. However, due to public opposition and a planned renovation of Christopher Park, the piece was not installed until 1992 even though the work had received all the community and design approvals by 1982. 

Two women who modeled for the piece hamming it up next to their sculptural likenesses.  Jonathan Kuhn, Jonathan Kuhn

The sculptor, George Segal, with his piece.  Jonathan Kuhn, Jonathan Kuhn

adjoining Sheridan Square, Christopher, Grove and West 4th Streets & 7th Avenue South

Gay Liberation

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Gay Liberation Monument in Christopher St. Park, commemorating the Stonewall Riots of 1969. 

This sculptural portrait of Franklin was commissioned as a gift to the City by Albert De Groot, a retired Hudson Valley steamboat captain. Park Row was for decades the center of New York`s publishing industry and newspaper businesses, and given Franklin`s activities as a printer of paper currency and publisher of newspapers and almanacs, the choice of location was particularly apt. DeGroot had earlier collaborated with Plassman on the creation of the Cornelius Vanderbilt statue (1869), which stands in the viaduct in front of Grand Central Terminal. This colossal bronze effigy depicts Franklin in 18th-century dress, holding a copy of the Philadelphia Gazette. A second casting may be viewed in the lobby of the High School of Graphic Communication Arts at 439 West 49th Street. On January 17, 1872, the 166th anniversary of Franklin`s birth, the statue was formally unveiled in a lavish ceremony in which artist and inventor Samuel F. Morse removed the shroud and newspaper publisher Horace Greeley delivered the keynote address. Charles C. Savage, speaking on behalf of the New York Typographical Society, commented: &ldquo;It is appropriate that this statue should be erected in this centre of our trade, in the very midst of our craft-work, instead of in Central Park; for Franklin`s life was devoted to practical hard work, rather than to the ornamental and the recreative.&rdquo; Today the sculpture stands in a small triangle, with Pace University as its backdrop. Having suffered from environmental corrosion, the statue was treated and restored by the Parks` monuments crew on four occasions between the 1940s and the 1980s. In 1999 the City Parks Foundation Monuments Conservation Program, with funding from the Florence Gould Foundation, American Express Company, and Samuel H. Kress Foundation, conducted a complete conservation of the statue and its large granite pedestal. Today this portrait of an American icon, with renewed luster, maintains his watchful gaze over this crossroads of civic life.Ernest Plassman's sculpture was unveiled in an elaborate ceremony with more than 20,000 people with Samuel Morse presiding. He caught pneumonia and died shortly afterward.

His experiments with electricity include the oft-reported use of a kite as a conductor during a lightning storm. Some of his more practical inventions include an open stove for home heating (dubbed &amp;ldquo;the Franklin stove&amp;rdquo;), bi-focal eyeglasses, and the lightning rod.  

Printing House Square

Benjamin Franklin statue at Pace Plaza

 Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Art and Antiquities in NYC Parks, talks about the Benjamin Franklin sculpture located across from City Hall in Lower Manhattan. The sculpture is located on Publisher's Row; Franklin of course was very influential in publishing, being a statesman, and negotiation. 

The figure was sculpted by Jencks, the boulder and foot stone by Dwyer. The artwork consists of a figure (heroic scale) half-seated against a boulder, a circular foot stones, an earth pedestal encircled by a low wall, two inscribed pavers, and two plaques. The figure, lettering on pavers, and plaques are made of bronze, the foot stone of Belfast black granite, and the low wall and pavers of granite.

Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument in Riverside Park. 

Located at the southeast corner of Madison Square Park this forthright, bronze full-standing statue of political figure Roscoe Conkling (1829-1888) is by the distinguished artist John Quincy Adams Ward (1840-1910), and dates to 1893. On March 12, 1888, while on his way to the New York Club at 25th Street, Conkling suffered severe exposure in Union Square, during the famous blizzard which gripped the city on that day. As a result his health rapidly declined, and he died on April 18th, 1888. Five years later friends of Conkling petitioned the Mayor and Park Board to erect a sculpture of him in Union Square. Park officials believed Conkling not of a stature to warrant placement of this work alongside existing sculptures in the park of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and the Marquis de Lafayette, but granted permission at the present location of the work. Later referred to as &ldquo;the Dean of American Sculptors,&rdquo; Ward contributed nine sculptures to the parks of New York, among them Horace Greeley (1890) now in City Hall Park, Alexander Holley (1888) in Washington Square Park, William Earl Dodge (1885), now in Bryant Park, Henry Ward Beecher (1891) in Columbus Park, Brooklyn, and The Indian Hunter (1869), William Shakespeare (1872), The Pilgrim (1885), and the Seventh Regiment Memorial (1874) in Central Park. Ward`s depiction of Conkling is a sensitive and vigorous portrait of him posed, as Conkling`s wife requested, while delivering a speech before the United States Senate. In early December 1893, the eight-foot high, 1,200 pound statue was hoisted onto its granite pedestal, and installed&mdash;in deference to the Conkling`s heirs&mdash;and installed without any formal ceremony. In the summer of 2000 as part of the redesign and renovation of Madison Square Park the sculpture was relocated 20 feet to a landscaped area, and in 2001 the sculpture was conserved by the Citywide Monuments Conservation Program.

Roscoe Conkling Sculpture

Roscoe Conkling

Located at the southeast corner of Madison Square Park this forthright, bronze full-standing statue of political figure Roscoe Conkling (1829-1888) is by the distinguished artist John Quincy Adams Ward (1840-1910), and dates to 1893. On March 12, 1888, while on his way to the New York Club at 25th Street, Conkling suffered severe exposure in Union Square, during the famous blizzard which gripped the city on that day. As a result his health rapidly declined, and he died on April 18th, 1888. Five years later friends of Conkling petitioned the Mayor and Park Board to erect a sculpture of him in Union Square. Park officials believed Conkling not of a stature to warrant placement of this work alongside existing sculptures in the park of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and the Marquis de Lafayette, but granted permission at the present location of the work. Later referred to as &ldquo;the Dean of American Sculptors,&rdquo; Ward contributed nine sculptures to the parks of New York, among them Horace Greeley (1890) now in City Hall Park, Alexander Holley (1888) in Washington Square Park, William Earl Dodge (1885), now in Bryant Park, Henry Ward Beecher (1891) in Columbus Park, Brooklyn, and The Indian Hunter (1869), William Shakespeare (1872), The Pilgrim (1885), and the Seventh Regiment Memorial (1874) in Central Park. Ward&rsquo;s depiction of Conkling is a sensitive and vigorous portrait of him posed, as Conkling&rsquo;s wife requested, while delivering a speech before the United States Senate. In early December 1893, the eight-foot high, 1,200 pound statue was hoisted onto its granite pedestal, and installed&mdash;in deference to the Conkling&rsquo;s heirs&mdash;and installed without any formal ceremony. In the summer of 2000 as part of the redesign and renovation of Madison Square Park the sculpture was relocated 20 feet to a landscaped area, and in 2001 the sculpture was conserved by the Citywide Monuments Conservation Program.

Hale worked for 3 weeks after he began spying for the Revolutionary Army. Disguised as a Dutch schoolteacher, he attempted to infiltrate New York`s British ranks to gather intelligence on the enemy`s Long Island military installations. The young man was captured, however, on the night of September 21, 1776 and hanged for treason the next morning on a gallows believed to have been erected near 63rd Street and First Avenue.Before he was hung, he uttered the words, "I only regret I have but one life to give for my country."

This graceful, 13-foot standing bronze figure, sculpted by Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937), directly faces City Hall and honors the last moments of the 21-year-old American Revolution era spy, Nathan Hale (1755-1776).Since no life portraits of the patriot spy exist, Frederick Macmonnies`s work offers a romantic interpretation of Hale. The bronze statue of the shackled and bound Hale is set upon a granite base and illustrates the hero`s last predawn moments. This sculpture was erected in 1890 in City Hall Park, New York.

At the foot of the Nathan Hale statue which stands at City Hall Park. The ceremony features the&amp;nbsp;SRNY Color Guard, wreath laying, and more.

 And hanged for treason the next morning on a gallows believed to have been erected near 63rd Street and First Avenue.  

Nathan Hale (City Hall Park)

 Nathan Hale was hung by the British in 1776 after being convicted of being a spy. Before he was hung, he uttered the words, "I only regret I have but one life to give for my country." This sculpture was erected in 1890 in City Hall Park, New York; it stands near where the actual Nathan Hale was thought to have been executed. 

 Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Arts and Antiquities in NYC Parks, talks about the sculpture in City Hall Park from the late 19th century depicts Nathan Hale. Hale was a figure in the Revolution who disguised himself as a Dutch schoolteacher to infiltrate the British ranks to gain intelligence, but was captured and hung for treason. He remains a symbol of the Revolution. 

At the statue of Nathan Hale in City Hall Park, Kaplan discusses Hale's life and significance, and the history of City Hall.

Jonathan Kuhn is Director of Art and Antiquities for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

 cultureNOW interns Kritika Dhanda, Young Joo Song, Siobhan Feehan Miller, Gavin Ruedisuelli with Jonathan Kuhn from the New York City Department of Parks in 2015  

City of New York/Parks & Recreation

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Monitor and Merrimac Monument, celebrating the life of John Ericsson. 

 Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts &amp; Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses 'Dawn of Glory', a memorial to community lives lost in WWI. 

Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses 'Puerto Rican Sun', by Rafael Ferrer, which celebrates Puerto Rican culture.

Jonathan Kuhn

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