Public Piano Massacre In Astoria!

Photo of the Astoria piano on June 21st, by Harris Graber

File under: this is why we can't have anything nice. The pianos that were placed around the five boroughs for the pure enjoyment of New Yorkers are still around through July 5th, as long as someone doesn't destroy them all by then.

Less than a week after they were unveiled, the piano in Athens Square Park in Astoria was practically mutilated. According to the Queens Gazette, on June 26th someone tore off all of its keys, and removed most of the inner workings. Sing for Hope's Christ Herbert told the paper, “It’s an unfortunate event. The piano was removed, however, we hope to be able to bring a replacement to Athens Square Park soon.”

When the "Play Me, I'm Yours" installation is removed on the 5th, the pianos will be donated to schools... so hopefully there will be some left!

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By Jen Carlson in News on July 1, 2010 1:35 PM

Comments [rss]

Lesliepbg

Hmm...last time I came to Ny there were cows everywhere. It took some getting used to. Now I look around and there are pianos everywhere. My brain can't handle this curious placement of objects in a big city.

unretrofiedforu

Wait a minute - they actually put 'working' pianos out? I guess I just didn't care enough to read, but I assumed no one would be dumb enough to put out perfectly good working pianos in the NYC public.

Taco Renald

Marina Abramovic destroyed that piana!

inoyourider

Damn, what a shame.

Still , surprised it took so long.

potsmoker

i hope someone destroys all of them, come on nyc!

only 4 days left!!!!

if its left out on a street its probably perfectly legal to take it! im sure theres some vague legality about it being inside a park or some charge of being in a park after hours, but really, i bet theres no law that says you cant destroy a piano left out in the open unattended art project or not.

ProfessorVonNostren

What happens when it rains? Is there someone there to cover the pianos?

grizzzly

they have rolls of plastic on them (or the ones I saw at least did), and I imagine either someone who lives nearby is on hand to cover each one up or they're relying on some intelligent passerby to throw the cover on if it rains.

butterbutter

Putting the piano's out in public is an artist performance experiment.

Having the public destroy the pianos is also part of the artistic expression. It should be embraced rather than looked at as a bad thing.

ur doing it rong

i bet white poeple did it

grifforama

This happened to the one in williamsburg on N1st and Kent as well. Totally destroyed.

Guest

Gothamist won't report on that because it would put a black mark on their beloved Williamsburg.

CR

It's ok to create more waste as long as it's done in the name of "art".

grizzzly

No waste really involved here. Pianos were donated and after the project are being given to schools and community groups; they're only wasted when they're defaced.