NYMag has the breaking news that the 15th century terra-cotta relief of Saint Michael the Archangel by Andrea della Robbia has taken a fall off the wall at the Met, from the same spot it has hung on metal mounts for twelve years (though the museum acquired it in 1960). The time of the tumble is uncertain, but occurred sometime overnight, and the curators have been assessing the damage today. While the sculpture is not......

Mark Gibian's sculpture in Brooklyn (entitled "Crescendo") became the latest part of the Williamsburg waterfront in mid-May; "the four-ton, crescent-shaped stainless steel sculpture was hoisted over the East River and installed on new 400-foot pier that's been constructed at Northside Piers." The sculpture is functional, providing shade and including a bench; the Brooklyn Eagle reports that a shade structure was required under the zoning. While an exact date hasn't been set, the Piers (a direct......

The NYC Parks Dept. is requesting that the Dept. of Justice return two sculptures of American eagles that were stolen from a war memorial to city employees back in the 1970s. The memorial itself is a flagpole located in Central Park across from the Naumberg Bandshell. It's called the City Employees War Memorial and was installed in the park in 1926 to commemorate the heroism and sacrifices that city employees made in all the wars......

All photos by thelexiphane at flickr Jeff Koons' rooftop installation at The Metropolitan Museum opened today, featuring three stainless steel sculptures with transparent colored coatings. The three pieces are Balloon Dog (Yellow), Sacred Heart (Red/Gold), and Coloring Book, the last being the representation of a sloppily colored-in illustration of Piglet, from the Winnie the Pooh series. The special exhibition opened today and will continue through October 26. The NY Times wrote the rooftop is......

The Brooklyn Museum's Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden features an array of salvaged sculpture that managed to triumph over the wrecking ball. The preserved work on view points back through time to sculpture's architectural prominence before the advent of Modernism, when it was as bountiful on building facades as in museums.Beyond the significance of individual works, the collection as a whole demonstrates the Museum's agile response to the destruction of architectural treasures even before the historic......

Photo by Jake Dobkin While a Tom Otterness sculpture can really brighten up the dark underground of New York, for his latest installation he's shedding some sunlight on his work. The above was just installed in DUMBO near the pedestrian exit to the Brooklyn Bridge. This won't be the first time Otterness has been above ground, of course. Remember his temporary 2004 installation that spanned Broadway from 60th to 168th Streets? And in 2005......

The Wooster Collective recently featured video of a piece of street scultpure by Joshua Allen Harris. It could be describe as kinetic pneumatic art, and features an inanimate pile of material attached to a subway grate. When a train passes in the tunnel beneath the grate, the upward flow of displaced air fills the material and produces a medium-sized bear. The continued flow of air makes it appear as if the bear is actually......

Troy Landwehr, a champion cheese carver (who knew there was such a thing?), took four days to create this lovely Lady Liberty out of what started out as a 1,200 pound hunk of aged cheddar. Despite the fact that the video is essentially a promo for Tracey Ullman's upcoming Showtime series, it's still oddly difficult to turn away. Troy, whose cheese carving is backed by a band in this video, has also carved Mount Rushmore......

Ahead of tomorrow's vote on a proposed fare hike, the MTA finance committee committee has approved an increase in fares for subways, buses and commuter trains as well as bridge and tunnel tolls. The committee voted 5-1 in favor of the MTA's proposed 2008 budget, which includes the increased rates. The increase comes despite the authority's projected $521 million surplus at the end of the year and the possibility of another large surplus next year......

Last year WNBC got up close and personal with the Civic Fame statue atop the Municipal Building, and this week The NY Times looks at the woman who modeled for that statue, and many others -- Audrey Munson, "a long-forgotten New York celebrity whose face and figure continue to grace the contours of statues all around Manhattan."It was Ms. Munson’s eyes that stared stoically from the marble forms of the Firemen’s Memorial on Riverside Drive,......

The Loch Ness monster, who has been tagging the city, has been in a marsh in Brooklyn for over a month. A note to New York's mythical creature coterie, you only have through December 31st to catch Nessie so close to home. The serpent has made the salt marsh off of Marine Park homebase ever since Ridgewood artist Cameron Gainer placed his creation there at the end of October. Using boats and divers at high......

'Tis the season...not only for typical holiday shopping, but for auctions as well (the auction season kicked off earlier this month when a Matisse sold for over $33M). So what's the ultimate gift this year? If you missed out on the $18.5M Faberge egg, how about the Norman Rockwell painting of Santa Claus? The painting, titled Extra Good Boys and Girls, is expected to take in between $2.5 and $3.5 million, according to Christie's New......

Starting in the afternoon, the masses traveled to the Upper West Side yesterday to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons get inflated on West 77th and West 81st Streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. By 6PM, crowds were penned in for blocks - it took us about 30-40 minutes of shuffling and snaking around before we could get close to any balloons. We suspect the Broadway stagehands' strike as well as......

This past weekend, an aluminum tree sculpture, dubbed A Tree for Anable Basin, built upon a floating island, set sail off Hunters Point. The project by Chico MacMurtrie and Amoprhic Robot Works was conceived to investigate and celebrate "the enigmatic, rapidly changing waterfront environment of Long Island City." It also acts as a "condominium for birds"; the press release reads:It is designed to emote the displacement of nature, specifically of migratory water birds by......

Lawrence Salander, whose East 71st Street townhouse gallery Salander O'Reilly has been padlocked by order of a judge amidst numerous lawsuits, maintains he does not have any money troubles. Even though investors and others accuse him of selling paintings without their permission and of Ponzi schemes, Salander told the NY Times, “When people say it’s a Ponzi scheme, it’s a house of cards — I’ve got millions of dollars of assets here. It’s beyond belief.”......

With craptastic weather hitting us today and a clear forecast for tomorrow, why not plan some fun activities for tomorrow when the weather is nice. The weather is cool, there's still some Fall foliage upstate, and there's even fall fun in Queens.Storm King Art Center: Head up to Mountainville, NY to visit the 500-acre outdoor sculpture park and museum. There are huge sculptures by artists like Isamu Noguchi, Mark di Suvero, Alexander Calder, Richard......

Cosmopolitan candy men and women packed the hotly-anticipated opening of Papabubble on Broome Street Saturday night. The high-end confectioner has been a big hit in Barcelona, Tokyo and Amsterdam, so it was only a matter of time before the New York market opened wide for some gourmet candy “sculpture”. Their new location continues the Papabubble tradition of preparing the sweets in-store, which has proven to be an entertaining and well-nigh irresistible marketing strategy. You......

Earlier this year one artist's chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ wasn't leaving a good taste with many, 41% of you calling it "sacrilege." However, 34% of you wanted one for Easter! Maybe Halloween will do, because it looks like it's been resurrected!"My Sweet Lord," an anatomically correct milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ that infuriated Catholics before its April unveiling was canceled, returns Oct. 27 to a Chelsea art gallery, its creator said Tuesday. This......

A number of city agencies, including the FDNY, NYPD, and Department of Transportation are on West 17th Street, off 5th Avenue, to inspect a sanitation truck that is stuck in a hole that's reportedly four feet deep. No one is touching the truck because it's leaning on a van that it crushed! We heard that a crane was needed to extract the truck. It's definitely not your average pothole - and we guess the......

TIP: Starting today and running through the 16th you can see some of Off-Broadway's best for only $20! Go here for more details about the 20at20 deal. READING: Clintons + book stores = long lines, so start heading to Union Square now for tonight's reading. Our former president will be giving everyone a glimpse from his new book "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World." Read more about the book, which is out......

Quick, call the locksmith! Before Thursday's Yankees-Tigers game, Mayor Bloomberg gave away yet another key to the city. Just last week, Bloomberg gave a ceremonial key to Mets pitcher Tom Glavine for winning his 300th career game. Thursday's key was for Alex Rodriguez hitting his 500th career home run. Rodriguez said that the key "will be something I hold dear to me for the rest of my life." In addition to receiving the key......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a gas leak on 70th Rd. and Austin St. in Queens, an aircraft emergency at JFK Airport in Queens, and a pedestrian struck on East 85th St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan. The New York State Music Fund awarded WFUV a grant of $500,000 to establish a second full-time radio station dedicated to airing more independent musicians and aimed primarily at music fans in their 20s and 30s. The......

With 30,000 red yardsticks on hand, New York artist Gene Schmidt is measuring the width and length of Manhattan. Each yardstick is numbered, used once, and later taken to Schmidt's studio and added to a sculpture. The pilgrimage/performance/art project, titled Manhattan Measure, was inspired by an ancient Hebrew text, but also parallels city walking "pioneers" like Mike Epstein. Begun in in October of last year, Manhattan Measure is about two thirds completed. Starting August......

We're less than a week away from the Times Square Kiss-In! Every year on the anniversary marking the end of World War II, the Times Square Alliance invites couples (though strangers would be more appropriate) to come make out in the same spot this nameless couple did just 62 years ago. The nurse eventually outed herself in the '80s, once she was a safe distance from the more "dignified" times. That day there were 750,000......

EVENT: Join a slew of artists, bid on their work and enjoy complimentary cocktails tonight at a benefit for the Seed Project. Artwork from Swoon, Lisa Dahl, Todd Deluca, Troy Dugas, Lee Everett, Midori Harima & Annysa Ng, Fumiko Toda, Sarah Trigg and a whole bunch more will be auctioned. The Seed Project asks that you buy basil seeds and after planting them: 1. Document what you have planted and put the picture online. 2.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large fight on Fordham Rd. and Jerome Ave. in the Bronx, police activity in the employee parking lot at JFK Airport in Queens, and a pedestrian was struck on East 57th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan. Donald Trump owns almost 20% of Brooklyn's Starrett City that his dad bought for him when he graduated from business school. He now advises lower-income residents of the development that "This......

Totally weird: Authorities have found a "make-shift" submarine with three men in it near the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. WABC 7 reports that the men may have been trying to "set sail off Brooklyn." Right now, police do not believe there was anything terror-related, as a search did not reveal any suspicious materials. There were oxygen tanks, though. No charges have been filed yet. It seems like one issue is that the sub may have......

EVENT: "Home Buying for Hipsters" would like to help out all of you "creative non-traditional wage earners" during your quest to own a home. Buying property is an art, after all, so creatives may even have a head start! They "aim to specifically address your concerns and break down the process into steps you can understand." Their classes are free and open to everyone ("hipsters, non-hipsters, art stars, rock stars, designers, freelancers, sculptors, poets, part-time......

Unhappy that this year's September 11 anniversary events will be moved from Ground Zero to Zuccotti Park, some families of September 11 victims are demanding that the events be moved back or else they'll hold their own ceremony at Ground Zero. The AP reports that a group of eleven September 11 family groups sent a letter to Governor Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg, saying, "As America watches the memorial service on Sept. 11, 2007, we are......

Sunday’s Times reported on the progress of an unusual marine biology project/art installation taking place in the East River: the Electric Oyster Experiment, designed to speed up the reintroduction of oysters to local waters with the help of solar electricity, and sculpture provided by Brooklyn-based artist Mara Haseltine. Here’s the premise: electrified, submerged helical sculptures provided by Haseltine spur the production of limestone rock, shown through research to be a protective environment for wayward oysters......