the Statue of Liberty

August 9, 2005
Arts, Briefly

Compiled by LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Liberty Moves to Brooklyn

The Statue of Liberty that stood for years atop a Manhattan warehouse will rise again in October on the grounds of the Frieda Schiff Warburg Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Brooklyn Museum. The 47-foot-tall statue and pedestal, much shorter than the Bartholdi original (151 feet, 1 inch from base to torch), was created in the late 19th century by immigrant artisans as a gesture of patriotism and was installed in 1902 on the Liberty Storage Warehouse at 43 West 64th Street, at Broadway. Given to the museum in 2002, when the building was turned into cooperative apartments, it will join a collection of architectural fragments salvaged from other New York City structures like Pennsylvania Station and Steeplechase Park in Coney Island. Since arriving at the museum in 2002, the statue has been lying on its back in a secured area of the parking lot, pending conservation including cleaning, stabilization, a surface finish and a new base.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------