The picture below was taken in the spring of 2001 in New York. If you will study the high resolution image carefully, you will notice something that you would never expect to find in New York.
If you have not noticed anything so far and if my pose in the picture does not give a hint, then I will tell you that if you look directly to the right of the traffic light, you will notice that there is something resembling a Lenin statue on one of the buildings, as shown below. That was actually the reason for taking the picture in the first place.
I had that image in the back of my mind for a while and promised myself to return to that neighborhood and investigate further what is going on. Gradually, however, that resolution washed away from my memory, until past Sunday when my my friend and I went to explore Anshe Chesed historic synagogue on Norfolk Street (which would be a subject of a future post). After taking picture of the facade of the synagoge, I glanced to the left in the direction of East Houston Street and right before my eyes I once again saw the Lenin statue and the building on which it stands, although this time they where right in front of me.
The building was constructed in 1989, offering “hip” luxury apartments, and so it incorporates many strange features in its decor. The easiest one to notice is the giant clock covering the water tower with the numbers in completely random order.
The name “Red Square” might come from the fact that the building is red and is of squarish shape, although most likely the name was adopted to slightly “shock” the public and create a sense of controversy.
As for the Lenin statue, it was installed in 1994. According to New York Times, the work is by Yuri Gerasimov, and “it was found by an associate of [one of the building's owners] in the backyard of a dacha outside Moscow.”
Furthermore, “the developers have made a postcard that reads 'Greetings From Red Square,' depicting Lenin with his right arm raised victoriously over the downtown skyline. [He] faces Wall Street, capitalism's emblem, and the Lower East Side, 'the home of the socialist movement.'”
Red Square building is located at 250 E Houston Street.
Sources and Further Reading
- A compilation of on-line writings about the building
- 1997 note in the New York Times
- An article by Frederique Kruppa (1992) discussing the impact of this building on the neighborhood
