| [OT] Is art bad for Central Park birds? - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| ksten@iname.com |
Life can be very precarious for birds in Central Park. Of course
there's always the rat poison, but now there's the art. Art??
Well, major construction is presently underway in Central Park for an
immense outdoor art project called "The Gates" designed by the
internationally-known "environmental" artist called Christo. When
completed "The Gates" will consist of 7,500 saffron cloths suspended
from steel frames. (To see a picture of project go to:
www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.html.) On January 4, New York Times
disclosed that "The Gates" will extend from 59th Street to 102nd
Street--almost the entire length of the park--and will cover about 23
miles of the park's walkways.
Both the local and state chapters of the NY Sierra Club have called for
an environmental impact statement
(http://erin-camp.tripod.com/criticisms.htm) but were denied. The NYC
Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe, refused with his declaration that
"There is no environmental impact. There is nothing to study." Of
great concern to the Sierra Club is the impact this project will have
on the 79 species of birds (almost 7000 birds) that live in or near
Central Park. It is feared that at least some of these birds
(including those famous hawks, Pale Male & Lola) could be significantly
harmed by the effect that these new obstacles would have on their
search for food. The Sierra Club also stated that it is especially
concerned about the 7 species of birds in Central Park that are listed
as "endangered, threatened, or 'of special concern'."
The $20M cost of this project, which is being shamelessly promoted as
the "biggest public art project the city has ever seen," will be
completely subsidized by Christo who in turn will sell the project
drawings, etc. (in fact some of these drawings have already been sold
for as much as $600,000). Acccording to the city's tourism marketing
group, it is anticipated that this "environmental" art will generate
more than $80M in tourist revenues. (I have no idea how they determined
that number, but presumably it is anticipated that tourists will become
so ecstatic at the thought of 23 meandering miles of flapping, orange
sheets that they will ultimately rush to reserve hotel rooms, make
restaurant reservations and book Broadway shows.)
If you are a resident or plan to visit New York City, and if you don't
entirely share the "artistic sensibilty" of our public officials, you
might like to send them a brief email to that effect. To email the
Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe
www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.html. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's
email address is www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html. Thank you.
And please don't forget to visit the renowned Metropolitan Museum
of Art (located on the outskirts of Central Park at Fifth Ave. & 81st
St.) if you would also like to see some world-acclaimed works of art.
Karen
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