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New York City - Cafe Sues Failed Waterfall Art |
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The owners of the River Café (right) in Brooklyn claim that their eatery suffered $3 million in damage after being soaked by the art installation, "The New York City Waterfalls."
Their suit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court last week, demands that the project's creators -- New York's Public Art Fund and Danish artist Olafur Eliasson -- be ordered to cough up the cash for repairs.
"There were 90 to 120 days of saltwater rain coming down on us," restaurateur Buzzy O'Keeffe said.
"It ate up aluminum and steel. It short-circuited our electrics. We had fires on our roof."
"The paint was ruined, the awnings were ruined, our outdoor lights are broken, and a lot of our trees just couldn't take it. It's left the place destroyed," O'Keeffe said.
The restaurant's gardens -- much of which had been growing for more than 30 years -- started to turn brown days after the waterfall was turned on, he said.
Amid complaints, a Parks Department official confirmed that the water was damaging trees -- but the soaking didn't stop.
"They did nothing," O'Keeffe said. "They knew it was happening, but the waterfall kept on going.
"Now our lindens and weeping birch are dead, and a lot of the other trees are brown. We've pruned them back, and we're hoping they'll survive, but only time will tell."
The $15.5 million waterfalls project -- which had the backing of Mayor Bloomberg -- consisted of four falls from 80 to 120 feet tall cascading into the harbor and East River between June and October last year.
It was hailed as a huge tourism draw and moneymaker for the city.
A spokeswoman for the Public Art Fund, a nonprofit supported by public and private monies, said it had recently pruned the River Café's trees in an attempt to restore them to health. Discussions with O'Keeffe have been ongoing, she said.
"We didn't know about the lawsuit," she said.
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Read Comments (21) — Post Yours »
1
Jul 04, 2009 at 10:01 PM Anonymous Says:
the restaurant is darn right! The city should pay them the money. It was a stupid idea in the first place to put up the watterfalls. They were ugly, it looked like a metal scafold, with water coming down it.
2
Jul 04, 2009 at 09:59 PM "Government is NOT the solution to our problem, government IS the problem!!" Says:
But at least Bloomy felt good because the city had art.
Personally every time I saw it I wanted to puke because I felt it was stupider than stupid. Which moron was coming to NY to see this???
I hope the River Cafe wins the suit! They should sue Bloomy for making a stupid decision.
3
Jul 04, 2009 at 09:57 PM Anonymous Says:
This is a real shanda...if they knew the damage was happening and did nothing to stop it they are guilty of arrogance and stupidity. This is one of the most wonderful restaurants with some of the best food in all of New York and had a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. They should not have allowed this to happen for some dumb art installation.
4
Jul 04, 2009 at 09:57 PM Anonymous Says:
Over the few months that this dumn piece of "art" was dispalyed at the water fronts there were many vehicular accidents due to drivers without brains slowing down or slamming on their brakes to give a look at the water showering down on the water!
The city is currently being sued for many of these accidents that were a direct causes of this dumb waterfall. And how many hours were lost due to people coming late for works because they were ties up on the BQE while police clear up accident after accident scene in those months?
Hpspital emergancy rooms being ties up because of this, gasoline expenses for emergancy vehicles constantlybeing called to the BQE in the same exact locations every hour during the months these dumb waterfalls were in place?
Bloomberg claims that the city made 500 million by having this dumb thing there. I don't see how he came to that number and how he can prove those numbers but what is proven is that between the lawsuits and unproductive time of time being lose due to the accident and busiensses directly effected by these dumb waterfalls the city made nothing but actually lost 800 million dollars.
Vin news should post the numbers of accidents on the BQE and on the FDR drive NORTHBOUND during the months of the waterfalls and compare it to the months leading up to the falls being there and the 5 months after they were gone. The numbers I saw was shocking.
5
Jul 04, 2009 at 10:01 PM Anonymous Says:
the restaurant is darn right! The city should pay them the money. It was a stupid idea in the first place to put up the watterfalls. They were ugly, it looked like a metal scafold, with water coming down it.
6
Jul 04, 2009 at 09:59 PM "Government is NOT the solution to our problem, government IS the problem!!" Says:
But at least Bloomy felt good because the city had art.
Personally every time I saw it I wanted to puke because I felt it was stupider than stupid. Which moron was coming to NY to see this???
I hope the River Cafe wins the suit! They should sue Bloomy for making a stupid decision.
7
Jul 04, 2009 at 09:57 PM Anonymous Says:
This is a real shanda...if they knew the damage was happening and did nothing to stop it they are guilty of arrogance and stupidity. This is one of the most wonderful restaurants with some of the best food in all of New York and had a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. They should not have allowed this to happen for some dumb art installation.
8
Jul 04, 2009 at 09:57 PM Anonymous Says:
Over the few months that this dumn piece of "art" was dispalyed at the water fronts there were many vehicular accidents due to drivers without brains slowing down or slamming on their brakes to give a look at the water showering down on the water!
The city is currently being sued for many of these accidents that were a direct causes of this dumb waterfall. And how many hours were lost due to people coming late for works because they were ties up on the BQE while police clear up accident after accident scene in those months?
Hpspital emergancy rooms being ties up because of this, gasoline expenses for emergancy vehicles constantlybeing called to the BQE in the same exact locations every hour during the months these dumb waterfalls were in place?
Bloomberg claims that the city made 500 million by having this dumb thing there. I don't see how he came to that number and how he can prove those numbers but what is proven is that between the lawsuits and unproductive time of time being lose due to the accident and busiensses directly effected by these dumb waterfalls the city made nothing but actually lost 800 million dollars.
Vin news should post the numbers of accidents on the BQE and on the FDR drive NORTHBOUND during the months of the waterfalls and compare it to the months leading up to the falls being there and the 5 months after they were gone. The numbers I saw was shocking.
9
Jul 04, 2009 at 10:31 PM Anonymous Says:
Bloomberg claims that the city made 500 million by having this dumb thing there. I don't see how he came to that number and how he can prove those numbers but what is proven is that between the lawsuits and unproductive time of time being lose due to the accident and busiensses directly effected by these dumb waterfalls the city made nothing but actually lost 800 million dollars.
There was actually a NYT writeup on the statistics which explained that there was no way to base such a claim on fact. People buy water and icecream in the summer and they continued to do so, That is al that wa sproven.
10
Jul 04, 2009 at 11:04 PM Anonymous Says:
“ This is a real shanda...if they knew the damage was happening and did nothing to stop it they are guilty of arrogance and stupidity. This is one of the most wonderful restaurants with some of the best food in all of New York and had a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. They should not have allowed this to happen for some dumb art installation. ”
“ This is a real shanda...if they knew the damage was happening and did nothing to stop it they are guilty of arrogance and stupidity. This is one of the most wonderful restaurants with some of the best food in all of New York and had a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. They should not have allowed this to happen for some dumb art installation. ”
how do you know that it had the best food? Is the resturant kosher?!?!?!?!?
11
Jul 04, 2009 at 10:44 PM Anonymous Says:
It was the biggest joke. I hated it!
12
Jul 04, 2009 at 11:25 PM Anonymous Says:
“ how do you know that it had the best food? Is the resturant kosher?!?!?!?!? ”
Both Zagat's and the New York magazine have rated River Cafe among the top 100 in NYC for many years...I do not know who provides their hashgacha.
13
Jul 05, 2009 at 07:37 AM Anonymous Says:
“ Both Zagat's and the New York magazine have rated River Cafe among the top 100 in NYC for many years...I do not know who provides their hashgacha. ”
Then dont eat there, but the owner is right. The waterfalls were the uglyist things in NYC!
14
Jul 05, 2009 at 08:51 AM Anonymous Says:
“ how do you know that it had the best food? Is the resturant kosher?!?!?!?!? ”
No, but according to leading authorities you can eat their Caesar's Salad, which is very good.
15
Jul 05, 2009 at 11:43 AM Anonymous Says:
$15.5 million?? all you need is a scaffold and garden house. 1) scaffold 80' high =$2,500.00 2) garden house 180' feet long =$50.00 total cost for all 4 waterfalls = $10,200 cost of material even if you buy good shpritzers, the buchoriam in yeshiva would put it together for free, how can you pay $15.5 mill for this??????
16
Jul 05, 2009 at 12:44 PM good american Says:
the waterfalls looked like a leak in a pipe under the brooklyn bridge!!! ugly and a waste of money, if the project did indeed bring in that much money then i guess they have the money to pay for the restaraunts expenses!!
17
Jul 05, 2009 at 01:49 PM Anonymous Says:
“ No, but according to leading authorities you can eat their Caesar's Salad, which is very good. ”
Leading authorirties??!! Please tell us this is a joke!
It is almost impossible to find a way to eat anything in a restaurant that serves food that is treif-unkosher. How can you eat with their utensils, cutlery, dishes? How can you possibly think of eating unchecked vegetables, and who is responsible for informing you of exactly what went into the dressing? How do you know that the food was not prepared with the same knives and on the same counter as your neighbor's ham and cheese delight?
18
Jul 05, 2009 at 03:36 PM Anonymous Says:
the place is not kosher, you cant eat there. they have a separate area where you can go on shiduchim and get a $15 glass of soda, but that's it.
19
Jul 05, 2009 at 02:47 PM Anonymous Says:
“ Leading authorirties??!! Please tell us this is a joke!
It is almost impossible to find a way to eat anything in a restaurant that serves food that is treif-unkosher. How can you eat with their utensils, cutlery, dishes? How can you possibly think of eating unchecked vegetables, and who is responsible for informing you of exactly what went into the dressing? How do you know that the food was not prepared with the same knives and on the same counter as your neighbor's ham and cheese delight?
”
In a restaurant of this stature they have a separate section of the kitchen where the salads are made, use separate utensils and dishes for the salads. The vegies are hand washed three times to insure that they are bug free. Their cleanliness outdoes and is more reliable than any heimish eatery. As for the salad dressing if you tell them you are kosher they will bring a unopened bottle of an OU certified dressing of your choice and leave the bottle with you. Many heimish couples can be seen there nightly on a shidduch date and you can be sure they are very makbid as to where they eat. Try it once and I'm sure you'll be satisfied and come back for more.
20
Jul 05, 2009 at 02:45 PM Avrohom Abba Says:
The restaurant deserves compensation. HOWEVER, from the description given, it sounds like 150,000 dollars of damage, not three million.
21
Jul 05, 2009 at 04:20 PM Anonymous Says:
“ No, but according to leading authorities you can eat their Caesar's Salad, which is very good. ”
I have eaten there many time. While they do not have chasideshe hashgacha, they are very accomodating to those who are shomer kashruth and the damage done to their facility by this water art is inexcusable
22
Jul 05, 2009 at 06:38 PM Anonymous Says:
“ In a restaurant of this stature they have a separate section of the kitchen where the salads are made, use separate utensils and dishes for the salads. The vegies are hand washed three times to insure that they are bug free. Their cleanliness outdoes and is more reliable than any heimish eatery. As for the salad dressing if you tell them you are kosher they will bring a unopened bottle of an OU certified dressing of your choice and leave the bottle with you. Many heimish couples can be seen there nightly on a shidduch date and you can be sure they are very makbid as to where they eat. Try it once and I'm sure you'll be satisfied and come back for more. ”
And how does this address the issue of Maris Ayin? You think a yid who sees you stuffing your face in there will know whether you're eating salad or not? Even the dressing bottle wouldn't help that, because who would honestly notice that? Ich bin nisht kain Roov, uber ah shaileh darf min fregen.
23
Jul 05, 2009 at 11:30 PM me Says:
“ $15.5 million?? all you need is a scaffold and garden house. 1) scaffold 80' high =$2,500.00 2) garden house 180' feet long =$50.00 total cost for all 4 waterfalls = $10,200 cost of material even if you buy good shpritzers, the buchoriam in yeshiva would put it together for free, how can you pay $15.5 mill for this??????
”
You forgot it was done by unionized workers.
24
Jul 05, 2009 at 11:33 PM me Says:
“ And how does this address the issue of Maris Ayin? You think a yid who sees you stuffing your face in there will know whether you're eating salad or not? Even the dressing bottle wouldn't help that, because who would honestly notice that? Ich bin nisht kain Roov, uber ah shaileh darf min fregen. ”
I used to work for Morris Ayin. Then I transferred to Billy Nader (Ralph's brother) before winding up at the law firm of Dewey Cheatum and Howe.
25
Jul 09, 2009 at 09:30 PM people need to lighten up Says:
“ I used to work for Morris Ayin. Then I transferred to Billy Nader (Ralph's brother) before winding up at the law firm of Dewey Cheatum and Howe. ”
thanks for a good laugh!