Closing Bell: River Cafe Sues City Over Falls Project
Last year’s public art project known as The Waterfalls was a huge success in terms of publicity and tourism but it didn’t work out so well for the owner of one Brooklyn institution that had the misfortune to be located right next to one of the four installations by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. River Cafe…
Last year’s public art project known as The Waterfalls was a huge success in terms of publicity and tourism but it didn’t work out so well for the owner of one Brooklyn institution that had the misfortune to be located right next to one of the four installations by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. River Cafe owner Buzzt O’Keeffe is suing the city’s Public Art Fund and Eliasson for $3 million in damages for the corrosive effect it says the spray from the falls under the Brooklyn Bridge had on the River Cafe restaurant and its surrounding gardens. The litany of problems cited by O’Keefe includes electrical problems, damaged aluminum and steel parts and destroyed plant life.
River Cafe Sues Over Alleged Waterfalls Damage [NY Post]
and I saw that they did alter it after it became clear it was doing damage. It was turned off when the wind was blowing in certain directions but by then the damage had been done.
The Public Art Fund obtained a $5,000,000 insurance policy.
Daveinbedstuy,
Who do you think will pay for this? The answer is…… taxpayers.
Either you are not a taxpayer or you are not very bright.
If this art installation caused so much damage, where are the pictures?
This was Art with a capital “A”. And whether we liked it or not, the effort made to help integrate art into the community is sound. What is not sound, is the fact that once this Art started to affect the environment, they didn’t alter the falls in anyway or end the exhibition short. This just produces an angry public that doesn’t want to help support the arts – a definite worst case scenario!
I thought looking at the Falls last year from an overcrowded, hot B train filled me with anger. The city could find millions of dollars for public art but packs us in train cars tighter than cattle. I don’t care if Bloomberg takes his stupid PR subway ride evry morning… it’s propaganda. The man doesn’t like (non-Billionaire) Brooklynites. He tolerates the middle class and uses the poor for voted by buying off their leaders.
they were pretty
suck it up whino
BTW of the about 13.5 million raised for the waterfalls. 2 million came from the Lower Manhattan Development corp(a public benefit corporation), 300,000 from the Mayors Fund for the City and a single donation of $5,000,000 which I assume was either Mr. Bloomberg personally or someone on his behalf(I don’t know for sure this is my opinion) Its in the 2007 and 2008 filings.
http://bartlett.oag.state.ny.us/Char_Forms/show_details.jsp?id={48C9454D-D114-4C60-8B60-5B4EEE864D25}
The property is leased to the River Cafe. Its his trees. He maintains the property. The waterfalls were ended early because of the problem with the falls. They also turned them off if the wind was blowing a certain way. I never saw the beauty in them(although I did like the gates in Central park which were passive). the waterfalls killed the trees and caused property damage to others because of the spray and their design and construction. Obviously there was an attempt to settle this and they couldn’t. Buzzy has to prove him measure of damages. I don’t know how much it is. I am sure its less than 3 million but more than 1 dollar….and either a jury will decide or they will settle.
but the owner of the Barge/Restaurant is not entitled any money for the trees dying. The trees are the city’s trees on city property. So the city can plant new ones on its property.