Text and Photographs by Jeff French Segall
The Nivola Horses, named for Constantino Nivola, the Italian artist who created them to enliven a public plaza between two New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings on the Upper West Side, have been through a lot.
The 18 concrete, modernist horse sculptures – made for the Stephen Wise Towers that opened in 1964 on West 90th and 91st streets between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues – had their muzzles lopped off by vandals within a decade of being installed.
There they sat for decades more – mute, disfigured, unrepaired – until the next indignity. In the spring of 2021, after a water main break in the plaza, they were cut off at the legs and removed completely, for fear they would be damaged further.
A construction crew carried out the removal with no public notice, leaving only the stumps of the horses’ legs on the plaza. That sight caused public outcry, or at least some protests from art historians and an Italian museum devoted to Nivola’s work. NYCHA quickly promised the horses would be restored and put back in place before the end of the year.
The rescue took longer than promised, though, and it wasn’t carried out by NYCHA.
In 2020, a year before the horses were removed, NYCHA had transferred ownership of Wise Towers to a new entity, PACT-Renaissance Collaborative. One of the collaborative’s principals was Amy Stokes, who has a background in art history and had previously worked for NYCHA.
In her quest to restore the horses, Stokes traveled to Europe to confer with experts at the Museo Nivola in Orani, Italy. And she sought input from Carl Stein, son of the landscape architect who had worked with Nivola.
Stokes also reached out to stone restorer Mary Jablonski, who had done work on the U.S. Capitol building and who brought a team of three to rescue the horses. The work was tedious, requiring much research, experimentation and testing, but the product of their labors is visible for all to see and admire upon strolling through the new Wise Towers Plaza.
While the reconstruction of the concrete horses was an undoubted victory, the plaza space within the Upper West Side NYCHA complex remains a complicated one for those who live within it. Besides the horse sculpture restoration, the complex has a recently refurbished playground and a basketball court. Progress, right?
Yes, but at a price, according to Ernesto Carrera, the popular and widely respected president of the Wise Towers Tenants Association and community leader. Carrera has worked with management and with City Councilmember Gale Brewer’s office to help create a plan for revitalizing the buildings’ indoor and outdoor spaces for play and relaxation. That plan is supposed to improve things for Wise Tower residents. But too often, Carrera told me, he sees non-residents bringing their children to play on the newly-installed equipment – and moving away from the children who live in the Wise towers. Why? Carrera contends it’s because of the apparent differences in their socioeconomic status.
“Before the reconstruction, the jungle gyms, the swings were not there and no one used the plaza except the Wise residents,” Carrera said. “But now, these [non-residents] come here and act like they own the place, and our own people think they’re neither respected nor wanted, and so, they don’t come any more, and that makes me so angry.”
Carrera continued in visible distress. “What are those parents teaching their children when they pull them away to go to a different seat in the plaza? That’s not how to teach your kids, is it?” he asked me, imploringly. “It could be so much better if people could just get together.”
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Great work, well done restoration.
I love how they’re arranged. Like they’re having a horse meeting.
Fascinating story, thank you!
Love to hear that the horses are restored, unsurprised to hear about parents clutching their pearls over who is playing with who. UWS has only continued to grow in its NIMBY ways.
I consistently see parents acting like they are better, deserving of more, or acting like rules don’t exist for them simply because they have a child.
I thought it was the outsiders ostracizing the residents? Maybe I should reread the article..
I just recently walked by and was taken by the charm and the beauty of the horses. Had no idea about their long journey back home. Also noticed the new playground, which was very attractive. I hope this brings more happiness and fun to everyone.
I love this story. And I hope it sends a message to the entitled Upper West siders (of whom I can be embarrassed to be). I see this behavior a lot and it’s shameless.
Thank you for including Carrera’s comments in this story! I continue to be impressed by WSR’s commitment to local journalism. As a lifelong neighborhood resident, I’m excited to walk by and see them home
This installation is wonderful. It will bring joy to everyone who sees it. I live a block away and was stopped in my tracks when I saw this. Beautiful for children and adults alike. This kind of art could elevate moods all over the city if we had more of them. The cost must be prohibitive.
I loved seeing these horses when I’d walk up the block, missed seeing them and wondered what happened to them, and am happy to see they have been refurbished and returned. Nice work!
The original horses have been described as polychrome — they now appear to be only in subtle shades of white and gray.
I was sure that they were llamas!
They went thru a Species-Change
If you want to know more about these fabulous steeds and the fight to save them go to https://www.landmarkwest.org/nivolahorses/
There you will find information about the artist and his other artworks as well as Stephen Wise Towers. While you are at the LW site, enjoy looking at the other LW advocacy projects as well as all of the other LW projects and the Building Database. It is a great way to get to know the Upper West Side. Enjoy.
The residents deserve this lovely place. Can it not be for residents only?
So glad they’re back! Thank you!!
So upsetting that our neighbors are made to feel this way.
Forgive me if I roll my eyes a bit at some of the playground discussion from Carrera and in these comments. I’ve taken my child to the new playground a number of times and have seen nothing close to what was described in the article. It’s possible that it happened, but when I’ve been there, I only saw kids playing and being happy. We don’t need a negative spin on everything. Would the residents be better off without a new playground rather than having locals use the facilities?
Maybe I’m getting it wrong but isn’t the playground for those living in the NYCHA building? I wouldn’t think it’s for the whole neighborhood. If your friend lives in the building and invited you and your child/children over to play that’s a different story. But I guess that’s how it is when you live in public housing.
What’s wrong with the local community using the city owned park across the street instead the playground that is supposed to service the residents of Wise? The residents, along with other that live in social housing, feel unwelcome when they use the public parks in the surrounding area. This playground belongs to them, the intent was to create a vibrant space that they could be proud of. Ernesto has a good point.
What’s wrong with the local community using this playground? It is there for anyone to use, just as with the other local playgrounds.
The viewpoints expressed at the conclusion of this article are dispiriting. The entire neighborhood is extremely excited by the horse sculpture restoration and the refurbished playground and a basketball courts. These areas are intended for public use by all UWS residents – and I don’t think it’s particularly helpful for WSR to dwell on (unsubstantiated) notions of strife between Wise Tower residents and the broader neighborhood.
More art please. For everyone.
I am new to this topic. Please forgive my ignorance , but is there any knowledge about who vandalized these lovely works of art, originally?
Story from the WSR 2018: https://www.westsiderag.com/2021/03/18/famous-sculptures-at-wise-towers-ripped-out-rattling-italian-museum
Beautiful yet vulnerable sculptures. I hope there are security measures to prevent recurring vandalism.
Thank you very much for this really exciting and fascinating article about a subject I previously knew nothing about. I like the depth of the history and resolution resulting in 18 gorgeous historic Nivola horses back in our neighborhood again!
Many of the children from those same West Side Projects used to come to the better maintained playground equipment before the sculptures were restored. This was the La Salle St complex where my grandchildren lived. If others are now coming to the play near the horses, isn’t that supposed to be a public space? If not a wall with a locked door should be placed around it. Better than worrying about which children are playing where, wouldn’t be better for all to focus on how to get along better?
I think one of the purposes of this article was to make everyone aware that our actions might, indeed, be part of the problem and that we can be the solution to that problem. The first step to solving a problem is to recognze that the problem even exists.
I love the Nivola Horses.
There is so much beauty as well as art to see in NYC.
Would love to see in person…..however, my budget will not allow.
Great to know the story of the horses. The story of the neighborhood reaction could definitely use a bit of balancing. I’d like to hear what some of the kids think too.
Please, please, post a fun-looking sign (maybe shaped like a Nivola horse) that reads: If you are not a resident of the Towers, you are a guest here. We offer the use of the playground in the spirit of friendship and expect only the same in return. The Kids and Adult Residents of Towers. (If non-residents are not friendly, then they can be asked to leave by anyone, even other non-residents!)
Is it a public playground and space or a private space just for the building? If it is public you cannot do what you just said is a solution.
Is the playground open to the public or restricted to residents of the towers? When I passed by recently, someone was yelling at little kids and parents playing there, telling them to leave because they were not residents.
I walked.by the other day, in a late afternoon (still daylight). The playground and the horses were open to the public, and there was no signage or indication otherwise. A dozen or so kids plus parents/caregivers were happily parellel playing in the playground area. Down the block in the same Wise complex was another couryard, with newly renovated basketball courts and kids play area/splash pad. That couryard had a high fence and a big sign stating, that courtyard was for Wise tenants only. No one was using it, since it was padlocked. 🙁
The residents should be proud that they have such a nice playground that people like to go there. Instead they think of those people as outsiders and stay away themselves. That’s their problem.
Fascinating article, we’ll written and illustrated. The division of people utilizing the area is striking when compared to the “herd” of statue horses.
The story isn’t entirely true PACT was going to destroy those horses but they were met with lots of resistance.
The new playground was renovated but not for the residents of Wise. The old space was half for children to play and half for seniors to sit and enjoy each other company and a nice day.
It’s beautiful but only inviting to very small children not for everyone.
They created tables with seating but off to the side not inside the “Plaza”. its not a “Plaza” anymore.
The Wise community does not like the new design because the space is not comfortable for them. It’s like go over there where we can’t really see you. Yeah somewhat disappointed in the design.