New York City Statues

Index of Historical Statues

Last updated: April 7, 2008

This (see below) is a complete list, so far as I can tell, of the 154 historical statues in New York City, as this Web site defines them. That is to say, any accessible, outdoor, three-dimensional figure of a once-living thing.

Things that do not count, as I have said, are 1) bas-reliefs or plaques of text affixed to boulders, flagpoles, etc.; 2) statues or busts that are largely inaccessible to the public or are really architectural features of a building, such as the figures that ring the appellate court building in Manhattan; 3) and other large aggregations of statues, such as the Hall of Fame of Great Americans at Bronx Community College.

(Just to be fair and complete, if you add the ones I do count to the ones I don’t count [these are listed at the bottom of the page], you have a total of 279 historical figures in the five boroughs.)

I have included the figures of Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden at the Port Authority and Edwin Booth as Hamlet in Central Park because these are prominent and easy to visit. And I included the two figures of George Washington that were added to the memorial arch in Washington Square because of their size and placement.

Also, I have removed from the list proper the handful of busts and statues that are located at churches or public schools, as I am not sure that some of them are accessible enough for our purposes.

There are a few blank spaces; these are just a matter of doublechecking facts. And I will refine some of the location descriptions as I go along.

Obviously, if you can think of a statue that is not listed here, please let us know.

* J.F.K.’s statue is in storage as part of some sort of conservation effort.

OTHER HISTORICAL SCULPTURE (125 STATUES):

• The facade of the Surrogate’s Court, the former Hall of Records, 31 Chambers St., contains 42 sculptures, of which eight are historical figures: the Dutch merchant David Pietersen De Vries, the Dutch colonial administrator Peter Stuyvesant, and the New York mayors Caleb Heathcote, DeWitt Clinton, Philip Hone, Sadwallader David Colden and James Duane. These were made by Philip Martiny.
• The facade of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is fairly festooned with sculpture, including six historical figures meant to represent famous systems of law: the Iranian prophet Zoraster by Edward Clark Porter, the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great by Jonathan Scott Hartley, the Spartan statesman Lycurgus, the Athenian statesman Solon, the French king Louis IX by John Talbott Donoghue and Justinian by Henry Kirke Brown. There was a statue of Muhammad, but this was removed in 1955 because of Muslim objections. And there is an seventh statue, of Manu, to symbolize hindu law, who so far as I can tell is not a real person.
• The facade of the Customs House across from Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan has 12 figures intended to represent great sea-faring nations. Five of the figures are historic figures. The first three are intended to represent Greece, Rome and Phoenicia. Fourth from the left is a figure of Columbus sculpted by Augustus Lukeman dedicated to Genoa. Fifth is Venice and sixth from the left is Queen Isabella by Francois Michel Louis Toneti, representing Spain. Next to Spain is Holland, symbolized by a figure of Admiral Van Trumo carved by Louis St. Gaudens. Next to Holland is Portugal and a figure of Dom Henrique (Prince Henry the Navigator), also by St. Gaudens. Next to Portugal is Denmark and next to that was originally Germany, but after World War I the statue had its Germanic insignia removed in a fit of whatever and it was renamed for Belgium. On the far right is England and a figure of Queen Victoria by Charles Graftly. The statues are 11 feet tall, sculpted in Tennessee marble and each weighs 200 tons.
• Set in the facade of the I. Miller Building, 46th and Broadway, are the figures of four famous actresses, Ethel Barrymore as Ophelia, Marilyn Miller as Sunny, Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy and Rosa Ponselle as Norma.
• There is a statue of Vladimir Lenin on top of an apartment building at East Houston and Avenue A.
• There are 97 busts at the Hall of Fame of Great Americans at Bronx Community College, but I won’t list them here. Check out the hall’s nifty online tour.
• There are at least four statues at New York schools, which are not included in the list above because I don’t think you can call a school campus a public space. They are Thomas A. Edison by John R. Terken (1958) at Edison High School in Queens, Desierius Erasmus by Hendrick Keiser (1930) at Erasmus Hall High School in Manhattan, Washington Irving by Friedrich Beer (1935) at Irving High School at Irving Place and E. 17th and, a personal favorite of mine, John Peter Zenger by Joseph Kiselewski (1951) at P.S. 18 in The Bronx.