Salty Lemons

The Statue of Liberty statue
Astoria, NY from my 2011 archive

March 8, 2011

Statues

"Love Thy Neighbor." Is that how the saying goes?

I live in an apartment on a street dominated by apartment buildings, as most people in New York do. Out for a walk, The Swede and I noticed something new in our neighborhood. A LARGE, Statue of Liberty statue in front of one of the smaller apartment buildings on our street. Do not get me wrong, I love the Statue of Liberty. But we were stunned and had to laugh a bit (or a lot) about this kitschy addition to our neighborhood.

It immediately raised many questions: (1)"Who owns this thing?", (2) "Where did they buy it?", (3) "How much did they pay for it?", (4) "Are the other people in the building OKAY with it?" Only in certain cities/places can you get away with this type of nonconformist decor. In the small town where I grew up, I am sure that you would have neighbors complaining. But here in New York, anything goes.

To quote another saying, "To Each His Own." This statue has inspired another documentation project, so here is a collection of statues I have stumbled upon out and about. More to come.

archives: Statues