Larry Ng\u2019s vibrant \u201cQueens, The World\u2019s Borough\u201d sculpture now shares a home with the New York Mets.<\/p>\n
The stainless steel, 6-foot tall artwork was relocated to Citi Field from Forest Hills\u2019 MacDonald Park Monday, just in time for Opening Day today, March 26. It had been placed next to the team store, but was moved to a more high-traffic area by the 7 train, not far from the ballpark\u2019s Tom Seaver statue and iconic Home Run Apple.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a lifelong Mets fan, I\u2019m especially proud that it will now be displayed at Citi Field \u2014 one of Queens\u2019 most iconic destinations \u2014 where millions of visitors will be able to experience and celebrate the diversity that makes our community so special,\u201d City Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) said last Friday, in a press release announcing the move.<\/p>\n
Per city rules, the sculpture could not stay in its original spot in MacDonald Park \u2014 it was installed there last year for a temporary, yearlong display through the city Parks Department\u2019s Art in the Parks program.<\/p>\n
The sculpture, which is the same red, white and blue as Queens\u2019 flag, was crafted to represent the borough\u2019s rich history and cultural diversity. The release from Schulman\u2019s office called Citi Field a \u201cfitting new home\u201d for the artwork, saying its message will continue to reach a wide audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis collaboration allows us to preserve an important symbol of borough pride while giving our fans a fantastic new landmark to enjoy and photograph during their visits to Citi Field,\u201d said Katie Haas, the Mets\u2019 executive vice president and chief of ballpark operations. \u201cIt is a privilege to help keep this artwork accessible to the public in the heart of Queens.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy it\u2019s here because it\u2019s in good company,\u201d said Stephen Melnick of the Friends of MacDonald Park. \u201cWe\u2019re just glad that Citi Field has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stancy Saji, program manager of community and government relations at Northwell\u2019s Forest Hills hospital, said it was \u201crewarding\u201d to see people in the area connect with the sculpture, especially during a March 8 block party that became \u201can unofficial farewell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the official sponsor, Northwell is proud to support its next chapter at Citi Field, where it will reach an even broader audience,\u201d Saji said via email, adding that the health system looks forward to welcoming new exhibits that bring people together in the same way. A series of murals by Deborah Camp is slated to come to MacDonald Park next.<\/p>\n
But some didn\u2019t want the sculpture to leave. Forest Hills native Carmen Montijo had started a petition to have it stay put, calling it a symbol of the community\u2019s identity, strength and aspirations, a position supported by this paper\u2019s editorial page.<\/p>\n
Montijo\u2019s online petition had more than 430 signatures as of press time, after an event to garner more support was held March 22. It had 50 additional handwritten signatures, she said on Facebook.<\/p>\n
She told the Chronicle she was concerned that community input was not adequately considered when the move was decided.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we voice our opinions, they should be heard by the politicians,\u201d Montijo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to fight too too hard for this, because it\u2019s still a good thing that it\u2019s going to Citi Field,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe just wanted to get more of a response from our officials that we put in their position to listen to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Area historian Michael Perlman concurred, saying city agencies and politicians \u201cshould not ignore\u201d residents.<\/p>\n
Per guidelines set by Parks and the city\u2019s Public Design Commission, permanent installations must be selected through a juried process and lengthy review period. The sculpture was approved for display in MacDonald Park through March 17, after it had been on view for a year. When time was up, Ng worked with Schulman and Parks on next steps.<\/p>\n
Perlman enjoyed seeing the sculpture against MacDonald Park\u2019s natural backdrop, saying it had a \u201clarger than life feel,\u201d but he thinks Citi Field\u2019s facade overshadows it. He also worried about its accessibility year-round, wondering how much foot traffic it would get with no events going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relocation of \u2018Queens, The World\u2019s Borough\u2019 feels like a longtime friend abandoned Forest Hills, and all that is left is banal mismatched cement,\u201d Perlman said.<\/p>\n
Views on social media were mixed \u2014 fans of the artwork were either sad to see it leave Forest Hills or happy about its new location. Others weren\u2019t so keen, and didn\u2019t think it was a good fit for MacDonald Park.<\/p>\n
Ng said he was \u201cthrilled\u201d about the move, and he told the Chronicle that Citi Field is planned to be his sculpture\u2019s forever home.<\/p>\n
\u201cQueens loves the New York Mets!\u201d Ng said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Larry Ng\u2019s vibrant \u201cQueens, The World\u2019s Borough\u201d sculpture now shares a home with the New York Mets. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[71320,2031,3439,69014,10774,69012,69015,9,24,320,63,122,124,123,71318,71319],"class_list":["post-175556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-carmen-montijo","tag-citi-field","tag-forest-hills","tag-larry-ng","tag-lynn-schulman","tag-macdonald-park","tag-michael-perlman","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-mets","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-queens-sign","tag-steve-melnick"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}