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Art stops, not pokestops: new map lures you to outdoor public art sites across NYC

Art stops, not pokestops: new map lures you to outdoor public art sites across NYC
Curate your own Brooklyn museum with this map from the Parks dept.

If you can make New York your gym, you can also make it your art museum. Now that the NYC Parks Department has released a map pointing out over 1,000 public art sites and monuments across NYC, it’ll be easier than ever to curate your own Brooklyn museum.

On the map, you can search for sites around your apartment or your office by entering a zip code or address. On the Parks website, you can scan the catalog of the city’s permanent and temporary collections by entering the name of a specific artwork, or browsing by key words like “abstract,” “bas relief,” and “9-11.” Hitting all 1,000 would take forever, so we chose five of the best you can see in Brooklyn—hop on a bike or hoof around this weekend on your own public art scavenger hunt.

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A garden in the shape of Brooklyn. photo via NYC Parks Dept.
A garden grows in the shape of Brooklyn. photo via NYC Parks Dept.

OSS#2 Brooklyn, Juanli Carrion. Temporary. A 230 square foot garden built in the shape of Brooklyn contains 36 plants selected by 36 Brooklyn immigrants, with the criteria that they are found both in Brooklyn and their country of origin. The plants are planted in the soil at locations that represent where each immigrant currently lives in Brooklyn. Located at the Myrtle and Washington Avenue entrance to Fort Greene Park.

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Union war general Ulysses S. Grant presides over Crown Heights. Photo via NYC Parks Dept.
Union war general Ulysses S. Grant presides over Crown Heights. Photo via NYC Parks Dept.

Equestrian statue of Ulysses S. Grant. Permanent. Located on the median at Bedford Ave. and Dean St. in Crown Heights.

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Why go to Storm King when you can see sculptures like this right in Prospect Park? Photo via NYC Parks Dept.
Why go to Storm King when you can see sculptures like this right in Prospect Park? Photo via NYC Parks Dept.

Monumental sculptures at Prospect Park, Carole Eisner. Temporary. Four massive, abstract metal sculptures have turned Prospect Park into a mini Storm King. You can find them on the Peninsula in front of the lake, on the lawn at the 5th St. Litchfield Villa, at the “grassy triangle entrance” facing Grand Army Plaza, and at the park entrance near Bartel-Pritchard Square.

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Explore this mural representing the Lenape of Brooklyn. Photo via NYC Parks Dept.
Explore this mural representing the Lenape of Brooklyn. Photo via NYC Parks Dept.

Lenape VariationsRuth Hofheimer. Temporary. At Washington Park in Gowanus, peep this mural using imagery inspired by the Lenape Indian Tribe, which once inhabited Brooklyn.

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Brooklyn Dodgers Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson are immortalized in Coney Island. Photo via NYC Parks Dept.
Brooklyn Dodgers Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson are immortalized in Coney Island. Photo via NYC Parks Dept.

Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese monument, Permanent. A bronze and granite statue commemorates the moment in May, 1947, when Brooklyn Dodgers Captain Reese put his arm around Robinson in solidarity against racist taunts from the crowd at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Located in Coney Island, in front of MCU Stadium.

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