There are Naked Men near Madison Square Park

There are actually 31 naked men in and around Madison Square Park.  Some are on the ground, but most are peering from buidlings like city guardians. 

These men can be viewed from March 26 through August 15, 2010.  A map of where they are located is available online. 

The men are the work of British artist Antony Gormley who, with this exhibit, makes his first American public art debut.  (His work has been shown in museums here in the past.)  His website shows other interesting things he has done with various versions of these men, including hanging them upside down by their feet and positioning them knee-deep in water.

Looking for these men was like a fun game of "Where's Waldo?" as I didn't rely too much on the map to find them.  As I was looking for them, I sipped a cup of Stumptown coffee (still enraptured by it) and snapped some pictures.

These sculptures, made of iron and fiberglass, are tall (about 6 feet) and (obviously) anatomically correct, perhaps with the exceptions of strange nipples and circles on the thighs.

Most people ignored them but there were some people photographing them.

I first heard about these men on the local news in early March.  There was some controversy surrounding them as they were going to be placed on ledges of buildings.  Police were concerned that they would receive a lot of 911 calls from people reporting "jumpers."  I suppose all the local news channels announced this art installation as a public service announcement to help the police and prevent people from being alarmed.

You can see how someone could confuse a statue for a "jumper."  This statue (left picture) is on the Empire State Buidling.  Sadly, and ironically, this statue was in place when a Yale college student from Austin, Texas took his life at the end of March by jumping from the 86th Floor of the Empire State Building.  (He landed on 34th Street sometime between 6 - 6:30pm.  It's miraculous he didn't kill someone on the ground.)  Below, there are several other pictures of these men on ledges.

From my "Where's Waldo?" exercise I headed down to The Strand (around 12th and Broadway), the bookstore that advertises "18 miles of books."  I've spent a good deal of time there - it has great variety and even better prices.  Lately I've only given myself permission to buy books if I can't get them from the library.  I was good about this all winter so I treated myself by buying a book I know my library has.  I also bought several children's books for summer birthdays.  Finally, I purchased myself a coffee mug so I could use it at work in Philadelphia as a pleasant reminder of one of my favorite NYC haunts.  (This will sit on my desk nicely with my Highline water bottle.)

At this exact time next week I will be back in PA.  This makes me feel like I should be out and about right now but, the fact is, I'm tired and hot.  I came back to my apartment and turned the air on.  This is a luxury I didn't often engage in in the past but this is my swan song so why not?  Plus, I'm going to Newark on the 4:45 train tonight to meet a friend for dinner.  This eases my mind about being in the apartment now - I figure "At least I'm going out later."  Hopefully, I won't be seeing any naked men in Newark.

I know this one is hard to see but I like the architecture.

  There are two men are in this picture.  Can you see them?

There are two men are in this picture. Do you see both?

An arrow points to this one, although he's a little lost in the shadows.

Look at the top right of the building.

 There is a man on either side of Empire State Building.

     Look on the right of the lower buidling

Look just above the pink flowers.  He's heading to the Flatiron building, or just missed the bus.