May 7, 2008
Man-Made NYC Waterfalls Rising Up on East River
Photo courtesy Vidiot.
Work on this summer’s NYC Waterfalls project seems to be flowing forward, as the photo above indicates. The $9-$10 million project will bring 4 man-made waterfalls, ranging 90 to 120 feet, to the East River and New York Harbor. Presented by The Public Art Fund, the waterfalls are the creation of Danish–Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who’s currently enjoying a retrospective at MoMA.
The falls will be located under the Brooklyn Bridge, between Brooklyn's Piers 4 and 5, near Pier 35 in Manhattan, and off Governors Island. The Circle Line Downtown and New York Water Taxi will both be offering several different guided tours (some of them free) to gawk at the falls. They’ll also be visible from several points in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Governors Island, where the free ferry will also afford a close-up view.
But what about the environment? The city says the falls will protect fish and other aquatic life by filtering the water through intake pools suspended in the river. And Con Ed has been contracted to provide electricity generated from renewable resources. So now the only thing to worry about is how many yahoos will be trying to go over the falls in a barrel.
The city projects tourism revenues to increase by $55 million during the waterfalls’ duration, which will begin at an unspecified date in late June, flowing through mid-October. For more, Gowanus Lounge has a look at work underway on the waterfall between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn.
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That is a great idea. Seriously I bet it will be beautiful.
They should really bring back that fountain that used to flow off the southern foot of Roosevelt Island. I always miss it when I drive up the FDR Drive.
Turn Trump Tower into a beautiful waterfall.
coooool !
Superficial Crap.
Whose money was used for this?
M.O.M.A.is crap too at least since they modernized
it to the likes of their trendy board of Directors.
The Public Art Fund is a non-profit org which raises its own money in part and also gets funding from New York arts initiatives like the Percent For Art program or NEA type funding w/in the state.... to answer your question West Side Michael....
and i wouldn't call it superficial crap, aside from being an interesting use of public space for art and a semi-promotion for the city's water transit, the project could be used (hopefully) as a springboard for teaching about science/envirionment/energy in some city schools.
MoMA is what it is. They've still got some fun going on there (have you seen Design And The Elastic Mind? Or the recent screening of Graffiti Research Lab's movie?).
lighten up and/or quit being such a typical west side douchebag.
man-made waterfalls? i thought the Brooklyn Bridge was organically o'natural...
Most importantly, it will be awesome to get stoned and look at, Dude.
I can't wait to kayak under those babies. Or at least very near them.
i'm sorry, how is that art? it takes what sort of half-assed creativity to come up with this? or talent to accomplish this? the ability to raise money? what does it comment on? what a load of shit.
plus coned will probably fuck it up.
that being said, i actually like Olafur Eliasson. but i still think this is dumb.
Cant wait to see this. if it looks as cool as i think it will, gonna make a special trip down to see them.
perhaps you could define the word art for us, pete
: )
and then define the word chair...
no fair, i asked first
anyways, just seems like a waste of money and resources to me. maybe i'll change my mind if it looks reeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyyy cool
This is junk. Great, expensive man made waterfalls, to encourage us to look at nature in the urban setting differently? Next step is wild water kingdom being declared a national park.
I believe in public art, but I also think that at reaching higher level in your artistic career you stop becoming part of the public and lose touch, then people will build whatever idea you happen to mumble out of your mouth, everyone nods in agreement and toss' you 15 million dollars.I find this project thoughtless and pointless.
You really think this is energy efficient? please.
Still superficial douchebag crap.
I may not live on the West side.
I may live in Boing Boing.com land.
You don't know even know if I am human and you
still called me a name.
You won't live long.
You must owe a lot of money to SVA.
Every square inch of this Island is public art
or as my teens say"Pubic art".