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Waterfall of death!

Interviews and photos by Jessica Firger
for The Brooklyn Paper

Along the Brooklyn waterfront, about the only inspiration the waterfalls have provoked are thoughts of autumn in the middle of a sweltering August. Last week, The Brooklyn Paper reported that Olafur Eliasson’s “New York City Waterfalls” is murdering the trees at the River Café, just downwind from one of the four artificial waterfalls in DUMBO. But after we discovered that Eliasson’s aborcidal maniac has claimed more victims, this time on the famed Brooklyn Heights Promenade, we sent our ace reporter out to gauge public reaction to this modern art killing machine.

The Brooklyn Paper / Jessica Firger
“It looks like an oil derrick. I’m not surprised they are killing the trees. It’s really odd, it looks like it’s turning to fall here, even though it’s still August.”
Jamal Ahmed, teacher, Crown Heights

The Brooklyn Paper / Jessica Firger
“What’s the purpose of them? It amazes me that people got funding for this. For several million dollars, they could employ more doctors or make the city more beautiful.”
Ian McLaughlin, accountant, Brooklyn Heights

The Brooklyn Paper / Jessica Firger
“I don’t think it was money well spent. I wouldn’t know what I was looking at unless I was reading the sign about them. In Italy, we have enough art history, we don’t need to create something new. And I can’t believe it is killing the trees! I’m so green, that’s even worse!”
Margherita Rulli, academic advisor, Italy

The Brooklyn Paper / Jessica Firger
“I think they could have done a better job. They should have turned the waterfall around — we have nothing to look at sitting here on the Promenade. The whole think is wrong. But the Statue of Liberty—now she’s a beauty!”
Seymour Kofsky, retired leather salesman, Queens

The Brooklyn Paper / Jessica Firger
“The waterfalls are ugly. It looks like they are pumping sewage out. When I drive on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, my car gets covered with crap. And they’re sucking up all that energy, couldn’t they at least made them solar powered?”
Michael Russell, contractor, Park Slope

The Brooklyn Paper / Jessica Firger
“Thumbs down! It’s ugly [because] it’s skimpy. I know it’s supposed to be art, maybe from the other side the view is better. But living trees are definitely more important than a steel frame.”
Barbara Teuscher, retired, Brooklyn Heights

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper

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