5 in 1 sculpture

New York, New York, United States

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A 35-foot painted CorTen steel sculpture by Tony Rosenthal at 1 Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan. Five interlocking discs represent New York's five boroughs. It was installed in 1973 to 1974.

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5 in 1 sculpture

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Site-level location · 40.7127° N, 74.0029° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Five interlocking steel discs, each standing for one of New York's boroughs, make up a 35-foot sculpture that was installed on the pedestrian mall at 1 Police Plaza in 1973 to 1974.

Tony Rosenthal's 5 in 1 was installed in 1973 to 1974 (CultureNOW gives 1974) on the brick-paved pedestrian mall of 1 Police Plaza. According to CultureNOW, the city government commissioned it in 1971 at a cost of $80,000. The Downtown Alliance says that when it went up it was the largest steel sculpture in New York City and gives its height as 35 feet. Rosenthal's official website lists it as painted CorTen steel, 35 by 28 by 42 feet, and describes it as a bold red sculpture.

It was not always red. CultureNOW says Rosenthal intended the work to be painted bright red, but a lack of funds meant it was first made with exposed CorTen steel, graffiti plagued it through the decades, and money was later raised to paint it, which protected it and completed his original vision. CultureNOW does not give a date for the painting.

Sources differ on weight. The Downtown Alliance says it weighed over 22 tons, while Rosenthal's website and CultureNOW give 75,000 pounds, which is about 37 tons. The artist's estate describes the sculpture as an unmistakable background character in dozens of films and television shows.

Rosenthal is better known for Alamo, the rotating cube at Astor Place, which the Downtown Alliance also notes. In 2015 the Downtown Alliance began its Lower Manhattan public art walking tour at the sculpture, which it placed at the district's northernmost edge. Check current access to the plaza before making a special trip.

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Tony Rosenthal's 5 in 1 is a painted CorTen steel sculpture at 1 Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan, on what CultureNOW describes as the brick-paved pedestrian mall. The Downtown Alliance began its Lower Manhattan public art walking tour at the sculpture in 2015.

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Outdoors on the pedestrian mall at 1 Police Plaza, Lower Manhattan. Check current access to the plaza before making a special trip.

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Spot was installed in 2018 as a fiberglass sculpture by artist Donald Lipski of a Dalmatian balancing a real, motorless Toyota Prius taxi on her nose outside Hassenfeld Children's Hospital on East 34th Street in Manhattan. NYU Langone gives its height as 38 feet.

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