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Signing Up: Creating Small Town Landmarks

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

The Upstate New York village of East Aurora is well on its way to becoming an epicenter of eccentric signage. The small burg of 6,700 residents already hosts a number of over-sized sculptures that do double duty as smile-inducing landmarks and advertisements for local businesses.

Coney Bye-Land

Monday, November 29th, 2010

As the pace of Coney Island’s much touted “revitalization” has accelerated in recent months, many beloved landmarks, historic buildings and mom-and-pop businesses have become casualties of plans to modernize the “amusement core” and transform it into a year-round (and far more mainstream) tourist destination.

Leather Guy Offered Second Life As Daniel Boone

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

It was a sad day in 2006 when The Leather Guy came down. He was a roadside original, sculpted in 1971 as an exact replica of the groovy owner of a leather shop in Mayfield, New York.

Sliding Scale – NYC’s Playground

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

A neighborhood news aggregating site recently noted that Tom Otterness‘ gigantic sculpture and slide combo “Playground” had become a destination for the Gotham toddler set. The roundy-headed bronze behemoth has been reclining on a patch of artificial turf on West 42nd Street for over a year, in a public park adjacent to the twin 50-story [...]

A Knitting Tribute

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Handmade scarves began appearing around the necks of Rapid City, South Dakota’s downtown display of life-size bronze presidential statues. This cowl play was perpetrated by a mother/daughter duo of renegade knitters who elected to strike the “City of Presidents” with a form of cheerful transitory graffiti known as “yarn bombing.”

2010: A Year To Remember

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

With the new year comes the promise of new wonders, yet unborn, that will dazzle our eyeballs into the distracted-driver danger zone. Here’s a brief look at some of the anticipated highlights for 2010 — and remember that every year also brings dozens of unexpected new attractions.

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