Today in unexplained phenomena: What is this statue of a boy doing in Riverside Park next to the Westside Highway near 76th Street?
Gary Cosimini found the statue this past weekend. Prompted by questions from this newsblog, he decided to return a couple of days later: “I’ll walk by and poke it with a stick this afternoon and let you know. Good material for a nightmare in any case.”
Upon returning, Cosimini found it had been moved slightly. “He’s a little harder to find now, but still spooky.” The statue appears to be made of papier-mache, that sticky French technique favored by elementary school art teachers and glue salesmen. It’s got a certain classical artistry to it — something about the finely tuned ear makes it seem like this is no 3rd grade project.
So, fess up, sculptor: What is the meaning of this? Is M. Night Shyamalan planning a movie in the area?
Update: Gina Giardiello emails to tell us she saw the paper boy on May 19th outside of Neufeld Playground in Riverside Park. He appeared to be in much better shape at the time.
Perhaps that is New York City version of Jizo statue. With that, drivers will pay more attention to pedestrians safety.
Never heard of Jizo statues. Thanks to your comment I learned about them.
Perhaps it is a sculptor’s maquette, a model for a future sculpture.
With the heavy brow line and the thrust-out jaw, he looks a bit Neanderthal.
I conjured a golem from newspapers to conquer my enemies — thanks for finding him/her/it!
The paper-boy statue in Riverside Park proves again that residents of the UWS are more fun and more artsy than the UES.
Cheers.