Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls...They're Right Here!

by KRISTIN LUCIANO · June 9, 2008

    Waterfalls NYCThree years after Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "The Gates" comes another Public Art Fund-and-Bloomberg-sponsored public art project. On June 26, Scandinavian artist Olafur Eliasson will unveil "New York City Waterfalls", which will consist of four waterfalls located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Governors Island.

    It's not the first time Eliassion has drawn inspiration from nature: in 2003 his installment entitled "The Weather Project" at London's Tate Modern featured a massive sun composed entirely of light bulbs. Eliasson hopes his new project will draw attention to the city's waterfronts; he recently told the New York Times that "Now people can engage in something as epic as a waterfall, see the wind and feel its gravity. You realize that the East River is not just static." What's more, the waterfalls are eco-friendly, designed to protect the shoreline's aquatic life and to run on electricity from sustainable sources. While most New Yorkers will probably be content viewing the falls from afar, if you wish you could join the tourists on a New York City Waterfalls Vacation--looks like Eliasson's project is shaping up to be New York's next big tourist attraction.