Statues

November 30, 2018

A monument honoring Shirley Chisholm will be built near Prospect Park

Chipping away at the lack of women represented among New York City statues, the city announced on Friday it is commissioning a permanent statue of Shirley Chisholm to be built in Brooklyn. Chisholm, who lived in Bed-Stuy, became in 1968 the first black woman to serve in the House of Representatives. The statue, expected to be completed in 2020, will be placed outside of the Parkside entrance to Prospect Park.
More on the new statue here
June 20, 2018

The city wants you to nominate historic NYC women who deserve a public monument

Statue of Eleanor Roosevelt on Riverside Drive is just one of a handful of monuments to women in NYC; via Wikimedia City officials announced on Wednesday an initiative aimed at bringing more commemorations of historic New York City women to public spaces. First lady Chirlane McCray and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen are seeking ideas of women or events in women's history that should be honored with monuments. The Department of Cultural Affairs has committed up to $10 million for the program, called She Built NYC!. "This is a first step to creating a public art collection that more accurately represents the diversity of New York City's history," McCray told NY1.
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April 17, 2018

City orders Central Park statue of ‘hero’ M.D. who performed experiments on slaves be removed

New York City’s Public Design Commission voted unanimously Monday in favor of removing a statue of 19th century surgeon J. Marion Sims from its Central Park pedestal, the New York Times reports. It was recommended that the statue of the controversial doctor, who conducted experimental surgeries on female slaves without their consent (and without anesthesia), be removed from its spot at 103rd Street in East Harlem after Mayor Bill de Blasio asked for a review of “symbols of hate” on city property eight months ago. 6sqft previously reported on the request by Manhattan Community Board 11 to remove the East Harlem statue of Sims, who is regarded as the father of modern gynecology. The statue, which will be moved to Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery where the doctor is buried, represents the city's first decision to make changes to a prominent monument since the review.
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March 27, 2018

An art auction in Jersey City is selling a fake ‘Naked Trump’ statue for up to $30K

One of the original statues on display in San Francisco via torbakhopper's Flickr Fake news is always surrounding President Donald Trump and so is Stormy Daniels. Put those two together (fake & naked) and you’ve got the most recent news: an auction house based in California is selling a fake “Naked Trump” statue, unbeknownst to them. Reports out today claim one of the five original “Naked Trump” statues is going up for auction on May 2 at Julien’s Auctions at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City. But a representative from INDECLINE, the West Coast “Activist Art Collective” that created the artwork, adamantly denies that this is an original.
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August 21, 2017

East Harlem statue of unethical M.D. should be the next ‘hero’ to fall, says community board

As protest and debate sweep the nation over the toppling of statues, centered around well-known Confederate names like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, here in New York City a lesser-known monument to medicine is in the spotlight for its offensive nature. The New York Times reports that Manhattan Community Board 11 is calling upon the city to remove an East Harlem statue of a white, southern doctor, Dr. James Marion Sims. Regarded as the father of modern gynecology, Sims achieved his success by performing experiments on slaves without consent and without anesthesia.
Definitely no hero here