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WNBC's Chopper reporter Dan Rice has been doing a Friday feature of certain buildings and landmarks. Last week, he focused is the largest statue in the city after the Statue of Liberty: Civic Fame, which is perched on top of the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street. Rice wrote a post about the statue on the Today in New York blog and marveled at the detail he's able to see from the WNBC 4 chopper:
When we took a closer look at the statue from the helicopter, many of the details became very visible. In her left hand she cradles a crown with five peaks. Each peak represents each of the boroughs. What I did not mention on the air this morning was that each peak looks like a city wall. Below the peaks, around the rim, are dolphins. They acknowledge New York City as a seaport. On her right arm is a shield. Zooming in on the shield reveals the seal of New York City. In her right hand she holds a laurel branch and wears a crown of laurel on her head while she is draped in a robe, standing barefoot.And even better, here's the video of Rice's story.
Civic Fame was installed in 1913 and her left arm fell off in 1936 (it fell into the Municipal Building's 26th floor cafeteria!). It was last restored in 1991.
Photograph of Civic Fame from woneyewitness on Flickr
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Wow. That's what's up there? I've been past that building a million times on the Brooklyn Bridge and have always wonder what was on top. When I was kid I imagined it was some sort of castle overlooking the city.
The great Audrey Munson posed for "Civic Fame." Her name must be mentioned here. Her story is very tragic.