Even though Tom Otterness, who just installed his newest creation in DUMBO, cheers up commuting New Yorkers underground...he has a dark past that wouldn't make anyone smile. The artist, in short, shot a dog (that he adopted) for the sake of "art" -- something he did, and filmed, 20 years ago. He's apologized for the unforgivable act, but with each new piece he creates or installs -- it seems his past will always come back......

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......

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......

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks: The New Yorker Festival hosts a conversation with Errol Morris tonight. He'll be talking with staff writer Philip Gourevitch about Abu Ghraib, with clips shown from Standard Operating Procedure -- his new film is a study of the prison-abuse scandal. Friday // 8pm // Directors......

With his new Humpty Dumpty balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the NY Times has three great video pieces with sculptor Tom Otterness. One is naturally about having a balloon in the parade, and another is about his themes as an artist. But the best one is about his wonderful subway installations at the West 14th Street A/C/E and L station: Otterness discusses the statue that's in the stairwell (see the screengrab at left)......

The Thanksgiving Day parade balloons have been inflating all day, and by now there are thousands of people up around the Natural History Museum checking them out. Some nice Gothamist readers have snapped some pictures-- check out Kathryn's photo set-- she even got one of Maybe Bloomberg in front of Clifford! Did anyone get a good shot of Dora the Explorer or Tom Otterness' balloon? Send us a link to your pix and we'll......

Ooh: Sculptor Tom Otterness has a helium balloon in tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - a balloon of Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty seems like a perfect subject for Otterness, whose round figures do seem eggish. You can see the balloons for the parade being blown up on the Upper West Side, at West 77th and West 81st Streets and Central Park West (near the Museum of Natural History), from 3PM-10PM today. [Gothamist went two......

Gothamist always wondered how public art got around, and now, in the case of > Exhibitions >> Broadway Mall" href="http://www.tomotterness.net/exhibitions_broadway.html">Tom Otterness's Broadway Mall sculptures, we know that it's by flatbed truck, as skilled art movers were packing things up. Gothamist is sad to see his fun sculptures leave the stretch of Broadway from 64th Street up to 168th Street go, but since they are heading to Indianopolis to brighten the streets there, we're not......

Since mid-September, Broadway between 60th and 168th Streets has been graced with twenty-five works from sculptor Tom Otterness. You may be familiar with the round figures of Otterness's work from the 14th Street A/C/E station, as well as Battery Park City, Park Avenue, and and 42nd Street (above the Hilton). Gothamist loves the idea of sculptures peeking out in urban places; it's makes our walks so much nicer. Newsday on how it took years to......

While exploring rion.nu I noticed this page with pictures of sculptures by Tom Otterness. Otterness, an apparently Brooklyn-based sculptor, has a number of works on public display around the City. Otterness is known for his bronze sculptures of cartoonish figures that inhabit a "delightfully loopy narrative world". More infomation and pictures of his installations at Battery Park City Roberto Clemente State Park the Clinton-era White House. Some of his work seems to be available......