City Cuts the Amount of Time the Falls Will Fall in Half

As predicted on Gothamist last week, concerns about the waterfalls damaging nearby trees have caused the city to decrease their operating time from 101 to 49.5 hours per week starting next Monday. The Public Art Fund says that an environmental assessment was done beforehand and that "an anemometer (wind meter) has been installed at each site, which shuts each waterfall off in the case of sustained winds that may blow saltwater onto the surrounding areas." However, the reduction in the running time of the falls is being taken as an extra precaution after leaves on trees surrounding the Brooklyn Bridge and Governors Island waterfalls were turning prematurely brown.

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By Billy Parker in News on August 30, 2008 6:45 PM

Comments [rss]

Gothamist_Cynic

Tourists aren't exactly the brightest.

Spirit of 76

Anecdotal and arguable. Okay, they wanted to see them. But did they come specifically for the waterfalls or were they coming to NYC anyway regardless of whether the Public Art Fund threw $15 million down that hole? Are you saying they would have gone elsewhere if NYC didn't have waterfalls?

dr zippy

I overheard several tourists the past few months talking about the waterfalls and how they wanted to go see them. If you go down to the East River this afternoon you'll see scores of people taking photographs of the falls.

moonbeam

It's ridiculous to even suggest that tourists came to NYC specifically to see this stupid piece of "art." Other than the people involved in erecting it, I've never even heard a positive comment. Mostly, people are baffled as to why anyone ever thought it was a good idea in the first place.

Gothamist_Cynic

Just turn them off already and dismantle them.

NannyState

I could have saved them the $15 million by just peeing on a tree.

Toby von Meistersinger

This was always a stupid idea and more engineering than art.

moocowtoo

They need to crank up the water, it just looks like scaffolding during a rain storm.

mouse6805

It was a stupid idea from the start. They're interesting maybe for someone who has never seen them before, but plain annoying for those that already have.

Spirit of 76

Waste of everything. Is there any evidence that these waterfalls attracted more tourists to NYC as the Public Art Fund and the artist claimed they would?