First Chicago’s Bean, now New York’s arch?!
A flyer spotted around the city is calling on New Yorkers to push the Washington Square Arch seven inches to the left on Saturday, Nov. 21.
The flyer, photographed by @keenanbphoto, shows the famous Greenwich Village landmark with an arrow pointing left and a simple message: “we need to move the arch 7 inches to the left.”
The “first push” is scheduled for 12:37pm, and it ends with a bold promise: “NYC WILL NOT FAIL.”
Wait, why?
Blame Chicago.
On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered in Millennium Park to try to push the city’s famous Bean, officially Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, seven inches to the left, according to CBS Chicago.
The idea came from a long-running internet joke that a man is trapped inside the sculpture, and moving it would supposedly set him free.
To no one’s surprise, the 110-ton stainless steel sculpture didn’t budge.
Now, it seems, New York wants to prove it can do better.
It’s not clear who’s behind the NYC flyer, and unlike the Bean, there’s no viral backstory about anyone trapped inside the arch. This one looks like pure, competitive New York energy.
Good luck with that
The Washington Square Arch won’t be going anywhere easily, that’s for sure.
Designed by Stanford White and built mainly of Tuckahoe marble, it stands about 77 feet tall and 57 feet wide. Its cornerstone was laid in 1890, with a copper time capsule tucked inside, according to NYC Parks.
It replaced a temporary wood and plaster arch built over Fifth Avenue in 1889 to celebrate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. That arch was such a hit that New Yorkers raised money for a permanent one, which was dedicated in 1895. The two statues of Washington on its north side were added in 1916 and 1918.
New Yorkers already have opinions.
Under our Instagram post, the most-liked comments suggested pushing Wall Street’s Charging Bull instead, or simply pushing the clocks forward. Others pointed out, fairly, that a 130-year-old marble monument deserves a gentle touch.
When is the ‘push’?
According to the flyer, the “first push” is set for 12:37pm on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Washington Square Arch, at the foot of Fifth Avenue in Washington Square Park.
This isn’t an official event, and there’s no word on who organized it.
If you do swing by to watch, remember the arch is a historic landmark, so keep it friendly, follow Parks rules, and maybe just push with your best intentions.
Will NYC succeed where Chicago failed? Almost certainly not. But we’ll be there to see who tries.
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