Right This Way to The Waterfalls

To be honest, I wouldn't want to get too close to those "waterfalls". The amount of spray and mist right around them may be enough to spread the noxious chemicals and microbes into the surrounding air.

Don't sit around ingesting food and drink in the spray/mist area, please!

Anyway, the effect is thin, the Bklyn Bridge one this AM was unimpressive, ugly and the whole thing is a waste of electricity.

It would be more exciting if they stuck some wind towers in the harbor, frankly.

FGG

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 11:44 AM

The waterfall by the promenade just turns its back on Brooklyn. Odd. All you really see is the unattractive steel tower. I hope the Wall Street bankers are enjoying the view out their office windows, because from the promenade, the rear view is underwhelming. In fact it's a little insulting.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 11:52 AM

The one under the Brooklyn Bridge actually looks really nice from the B,D or N train going over the Manhattan bridge.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 12:23 PM

I work on Wall Street and just wander over to the window on upper floor that over looks the river.
You get good view of the waterfalls from up here.
When I looked at them yesterday from ground level, the view is not that spectacular for the one under the Brooklyn Bridge.
They are doing construction on the Pier and sidewalk between Pier 11 and the South Street Seaport, so that blocks the view under the bridge from many vantage points. Will have to walk over to the South Street Seaport to see the under the bridge one.

I like the waterfalls, but they seemed way cooler in the concept drawings, then the final result.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 12:34 PM

11:52 i was listening to an interview with the artist and one of the main points is that the waterfalls have nothing necessarily to do with either borough, it's about the space between the boroughs, the waterfalls facing each other, so on and so forth.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 12:37 PM

Whatever. They're still a thin attempt, a waste of money and FlowerHill (the mayor) saying they will net $55m to the City means nothing. They'll just be there, use a lot of electricity...wondering who's paying for that... How much City money (our taxes) went toward them? Was it all through outside grants and funds?

The dollar figure FlowerHill's staffer put in his speech has nothing to do with anything. Where is the $55m going? If there is any benefit, most of the dough goes to large corporations just trying to fill their hotels to capacity (and maximise their underpaid staff, much of it without health insurance benefits), stores like the Trap (I mean the Gap) and friends, and the Apple Stores... We just had friends visiting from Europe and their kids (teenagers) were "all about" shopping...and very little of it benefitted anything truly local accept for the purchase of one Manhattan Portage bag (which may have some regional effect since the bags are made in NYS)...

Was FlowerHill's admin's calculation based on some estimate the extra sales tax, hotel tax, airport tax, and Metrocard sales on some huge influx of tourism? Basically, we'd have to see a direct effect of these palsy "waterfalls" adding about $305M (and maybe more) in sales while they're installed and running.

FlowerHill's so full of dirt. Geesh..

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 12:57 PM

the waterfalls are creating a traffic nightmare on the BQE and the gowanus expressway and lots of brooklyn.

I drove 2 x on the BQE last night on the way to devo traic was moving great from bay ridge but then got backed up 2 miles into the waterfalls due to rubbernecking. as soon as i passed the waterfalls the highway was empty. traffic was backed up the same way in the other direction. today the bqe is a nightmare again by the waterfall.

with gas being over 5 dollars a gallon for diesel (4 for regular) truckers are consumers are probably going to spend millions of dollars in extra gas. not to mention all the extra pollution caused by the back up. and the residual back up as 4th avenue is a disaster also. this is much worse then atlantic yards!! traffic backup for a crap art display costing millions of dollars for consumers. it should be shut off tomorrow or limited to its hours!!

the city forgot to take this into the equation. should fix immediatly.

adam

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:07 PM

The only one that looks decent from Brooklyn is the one on Governor's Island.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:08 PM

Yes, adam,
I agree with the poor planning of the traffic issue. Many people talked about the impact on traffic but the plan for the "waterfalls" was approved. Having the MOMA Good Seal of approval (and MOMA board mbrs shoulder-to-shoulder with the muckimucks helps too). Hhhh...public art installations have to be thought out much more thoroughly.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:19 PM

1:07,
You assume that the city and those controling it, care a fig about what ordinary people pay for gas or whether they will be delayed by traffic logjams. They do not. Instead, they want to show their counterparts in London and Berlin and Dubai how cool and wealthy the upper class is in NYC. It's about them, it's not about us. If it were about us, they would use the money to install air conditioning in city schools so our children don't bake.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:23 PM

As I rode my bike over the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday evening a stiff wind was blowing and the spray of the one by the promenade was pushed back onto the towers. It looked pretty weak and unimpressive. And the towers are ugly. They could have been so much more architecturally interesting than pipe scaffolding.
This is the opposite condition of The Gates for me. When I heard about The Gates it sounded dumb but in reality I thought it was impressive. The waterfalls sounded neat in concept but in reality are lame.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:42 PM

I'll join TDCWN.net now. I think the spray of noxious water is truly a health hazard.

I mean, this is not the water jet in Geneva. Granted I wouldn't want to drink that water straight out of the lake BUT it is MUCH safer than the water in the harbour...considering the huge storms we have had, I wonder how much waste has made it's way in to the harbour the last month. The storm runoff normal street litter and petrochemicals would be enough pollution swept into the harbour (not to mention the Brooklyn Valdez leak seeping into the waterways) but the fact that there is sewage overflow is unsafe.

FGG

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:45 PM

FGG
who are you? Felix Unger?
Get over it, NY is a dirty city.
maybe you would be happier in a remote yodel-village in Switzerland.
The bay is so much cleaner than it has been in a hundred years. Whatever germs are in the mist I'm sure would be eaten by the germs on any subway car at rush hour.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 2:00 PM

Oh yeah, I forgot, Biff is Felix Unger.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 2:31 PM

Jesus christ! People love to hate. The waterfalls are not actually the source of everything evil. In fact, most people just like them. Yes, they're the product of a cultural elite--most art is. The price tag is minimal, and almost completely paid for by corporate donations. Relax.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 2:34 PM

i'm in ur park sneezing in ur tacos.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 3:20 PM

2:34, People are not hateful because they don't like a specific work of public art. It is their right to express their opinion.
Get over your self-righteous self.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 3:21 PM

I just love the fact the you people are simultaneously complaining that:
1) The waterfalls are not visually interesting, and
2) People are stopping to look at them, which is creating traffic backups.

That's like going to a restaurant and complaining that the food is horrible AND the portions are too small. If the waterfalls are so uninteresting, why are enough people stopping to look at them that it cause traffic backups?

Seriously, you people will complain about anything. Get a life. It's a public art project. As with all art, some people will like and some won't. Still we're all better off that we live in a city where energy is devoted to this kind of work. It's part of what makes NYC a world class, fascinating city.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 3:30 PM

Dear 3:30 - I wish to register a complaint about your complaint about the level of complaining around here.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 3:38 PM

3:30, good post. im neither an art snob nor a lover of the waterfalls, but the complaining is over the top in its absence of knowledge or logic. its fine to dislike these on aesthetic grounds but to say

- the traffic is jammed all the time
- its costing us so much money that could be used for something else
- its using tons of resources/electricity

just shows you really dont know what youre talking about, and look plain dumb.

i commute by car across brooklyn bridge, fdr, and lower manhattan every day, and no material traffic issue. these are mostly privately funded. the electricity is less than a rounding error in comparison to all the public facility use of electricity here (street lamps, parks, etc)

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 3:47 PM

I just took a walk at lunch to look at the waterfalls from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial off Water Street.
They suck.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 4:02 PM

I'm glad the harbour seemed alive but it is rather unsustainable.

As I said above, wind turbine towers in the harbour would be brilliant...okay...and they might cause rubbernecking at first as well.

I say again, I agree with adam in his comment above and also think what mule wrote makes sense.

With any luck, the regular commuters will tire of the waterfall under our bridge soon so traffic will go back to being the normal-slow but not massively-slow.

BTW, this trendoid artist's show was very poorly realized indoors as well. The mylar on the ceiling looked a mess. And the promoting of the show was shameless.

And to the nut who communtes by car: Where are you coming from and going to that you cross the Bklyn Bridge, take the FDR, etc. for work? I hope you work "in the field" and therefore have some massive justification to drive in.

I'm thinking of joining the people who bike over the bridges. They look like they're digging it in the morning when I'm on my Q-train. They have a little bit of work getting up to the middle of the bridge but can coast the entire way down from the midpoint. Seems fun...just don't know if I could hack the whole thing to midtown.

FGG (FortGreeneGardener...not Felix Unger)

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 5:29 PM

I'm not here to be vulger but honestly my pee has a stronger force then those wimpy waterfalls. I think the water is pumped by 2-3 garden hoses. I am not impressed and the money could have been better spent in NYC. The MTA is threatening to raise fares and we waste money on drippy water falls. WTF?!?!?!

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 6:08 PM

Actually they are not totally privately funded. At elast 2 mil was from the LMDC and there are other monies as well

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 6:58 PM

Of course they aren't totally privately funded. What jerkoff would spend his own money to help support this piece of garbage. Philanthropy? I think not.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 7:21 PM

And if someone gets hurt at the scene or sick from something...? Liability...?

Will they sue the City?

How much City overtime was paid to secure those areas?

I'm sure someone has factored in what the City's costs were to make this happen...

It's the same with civic events like parades...someone has to pay for the cops and clean-up and usually the organizers do not cover all the costs incurred by NYPD and Sanitation.

Just ugly anyway. That scaffolding looks terrible.

To the person above who wrote that the drawings for the project looked much better: This is NEARLY always the case. The drawings were nothing but artist's renditions. Same with unbuilt condos and AY. Looks okay positively lush and green, or sleek and perfection constructed in computer aided photo mock-ups, watercolours or pastels!

FGG

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 7:58 PM

nobody will be saying "remember those waterfalls last summer , they where awesome what a great idea"

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 9:05 PM

The water flowing from my shower heads is more artistic than this crap.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 9:19 PM

I love the fact the towers are surrounded by a buoy ring to prevent solid matter from being sucked up. I remember back in the 70's seeing parts of a giraffe floating down the East River.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 10:58 PM

it was actually a little bit nicer knowing it was supposed to be a waterfall than when it was turned to be a waterfall.

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 11:34 PM

FGG,

You'll never ride a bike across a bridge. You know this already.

Posted by: guest at June 28, 2008 11:07 AM

Because he a pussy.

Posted by: guest at June 28, 2008 11:16 AM

10:37- does doing that really make you feel like a man? Because sad to say, you aren't more than a pathetic little weasel who can't stand anyone else doing anything meaningful. You need to get a life.

Posted by: guest at June 29, 2008 8:21 PM