May 19, 2008
Dismantling of East Village Toy Tower Underway
Photo courtesy Lorcan Otway.
So it goes. The eclectic East Village “toy tower,” assembled from found objects by colorful East Village character Eddie Boros in the East Sixth Street and Avenue B community garden, is on its way out. Parks Department workers have begun dismantling the 65-foot-tall tower, built over the course of two decades.
Vanishing New York hears that today passers-by were permitted to take bits of the tower as souvenirs, and Curbed has some sad photos of the scene. Workers are expected to continue the erasure of the idiosyncratic downtown icon starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
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Nice job, fascists. Now that the toy tower is gone, there is truly nothing interesting left in this city.
As much as I enjoyed the Toy Tower it was pretty obviously becoming a hazard. The untreated wood has been exposed to the elements for nearly 25 years and the tower was leaning in more directions than a vertical structure really needs to lean. What would you have done differently? Who would you get to pay to save it?
Sorry to see it go. It was a tribute to a spirit of creative serendipity. Also a true and generous work of public art. Rare these days. Anyway, it was kind of doomed for not being built with an eye to scure construction and longevity. So it goes. Nonetheless, it was very cool, in some way also for its dangerous impermanent feeling. I remember being startled by people climbing it on occassion.
All things must change to something new, to something strange.
Longfellow
I'd be fine with them taking it down if the space was promised to another equally eccentric maker. I've been walking past that thing for ages,and I think the block will be less interesting with it gone.
Tower was an eye-sore, but I hope dismantling will not become an excuse to get rid of this little park.
Nik, it is not a 'little park', it is a community garden.