Photo: QueensPost
Oct. 22, 2014 By Christian Murray
The artwork/excise equipment beneath the 40th Street station was removed today to make room for the 40th Street/ Lowery Plaza that will be unveiled this Friday.
Workers began disassembling the stainless steel workout equipment and rubber mats at about 11 a.m., which the workers said was on route to be displayed in North Carolina.
The equipment/artwork, which went up last October, aimed to “bring art and function [to the subway area],” said Darren Goins, the artist, at the time.
Today, as Goins was disassembling his work, he said that his Sunnyside exhibition was well received. He said that it had been replicated in other parts of the city and that it had been written about in an art magazine.
However, many residents were perplexed by the artwork and wanted it removed shortly after it went up.
The 40th Street Lowery Plaza is scheduled to open Friday with a ribbon cutting taking place there at 1 p.m. It would have opened in summer—but the artist had a contract with the Department of Transportation to have his work displayed there until October.
Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District (BID) will be power washing the concrete beneath the 40th Street Station and setting up planters as well as tables & chairs. The plaza will be very similar to the Bliss Plaza that opened at 46th Street on July 29.
The two plazas stem from an application the BID filed with the DOT last summer for the two sites to be included as part of the NYC Plaza Program.
The DOT approved the BID’s proposal and agreed to help design the plazas and provide the funding.
Bliss Plaza (Photo: QueensPost)
