The Greatest City on Earth Comes to Lower Manhattan

01/23/2012
The Greatest City on Earth Comes to Lower Manhattan

Come see The Greatest City on Earth in the greatest neighborhood on earth! Today, the Alliance for Downtown New York announced the latest Re:Construction installation, The Greatest City on Earth, located at Nassau between John and Fulton Streets by artist Linda Zacks.

“As Lower Manhattan continues to grow, construction can be tough on small businesses and confusing for pedestrians. While we look forward to all the great improvements happening downtown, this latest Re:Construction installation is a creative and resourceful way to support small businesses, direct visitors, residents and local workers and beautify Lower Manhattan all at the same time,” said Elizabeth H. Berger, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York.

The Greatest City on Earth is an ongoing series of skylines by artist, Linda Zacks. Linda’s art reflects her passion for the city of New York; she uses a combination of imagery and materials to capture the vitality of the urban, modern experience “that turns a jackhammer into a musical instrument." Zacks’ powerful body of work captures the life and emotion in a city skyline evoking the frenetic and visceral to the quiet and serene moments that mark the experience of daily life in The Greatest City on Earth.

This ongoing series is inspired by the constantly evolving energy of the cityscape. “One day, about eight years ago, on my Brooklyn rooftop (which I call my living room,) I was staring out at the Greatest City on Earth and that kick started my skyline-obsession” says artist Linda Zacks. “Instead of being IN IT looking up, I looked AT IT snaking around in front of me, a stack of living shapes / moody boxes of light and dark. It was so big and so small all at once, both intimidating and small-town-like. Since then I’ve created countless images and captured a zillion snapshots of the manic-depressive moods of the skyline: daytime / sunsets / gray rain / snow days / summer stew / night light! Every day different.”

Linda spent much of her life moving around – including living overseas in England as a youngster and attending high school in Holland. She’s a graduate of Brown University and worked as Design Director for Vh1.com before going solo with scream-as-loud-as-you-can-graphics for Sony Style, Adobe, INQ Mobile, and The Newport Beach Film Festival among others.

Linda has shown in art exhibitions throughout the world from the 1000 Journals show at the SF MOMA to CBGBs to MTV in the United States, the Paris subway to Sydney. She has been recognized with Broadcast Design Awards and selected as a "Fresh" artist by Communication Arts. Her work was also selected for inclusion in American Illustration 30. Visit her website at www.extra-oomph.com.

The New York City Department of Design and Construction appreciates the Downtown Alliance’s direct initiative in implementing innovative art features around construction sites in Lower Manhattan,” said Shah Jaromi of NYCDDC. “The artwork introduces an aesthetically pleasing element to the areas affected by these long term construction areas. The Downtown Alliance’s continued drive to create a better, more livable environment and lessen the construction impact to the community is always much appreciated.”

Funded by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Re:Construction is a public art program produced by the Downtown Alliance. Engaging, thoughtful and whimsical, the temporary artworks are creating colorful landmarks and brightened streetscapes as they help mitigate the impact of Downtown’s numerous building projects. The program began in 2007 and has produced now 32 installations, including The Greatest City on Earth. Approximately half of these pieces are still up for viewing.

Other Re:Construction projects – which you can learn more about at https://downtownny.com/programs/reconstruction  – have been installed at:

  • 180 Broadway: Mirage Canyon
  • Warren Street: Walks of Life*
  • Fulton and Pearl Streets: Water Movements*
  • Liberty and Church Streets: Men at Work*
  • Broadway and John Street: Corbin Building Architectural Rendering*
  • Canal and Varick Streets, LentSpace: half awake, half asleep*
  • 55 Liberty Street: Monk Parakeets with Mourning Doves and Red Wings
  • Nassau and Fulton Streets: Sour Gum Tree: Seasonal Glory*
  • 24 John Street: Drift*
  • Hubert Street between Washington and Hudson Street: Aquatic Dream
  • Grand and Lafayette streets: Downtown Dogs
  • 50 West Street: Life, Actually*
  • Hudson Street between Franklin Street and Ericsson Place: Star Sun Burst*
  • W Hotel New York – Downtown: Hours of the Day
  • Chambers Street: Secret Gardens*
  • Fiterman Hall: Restore the View*
  • Titanic Park, Fulton and Pearl streets: Water Movements
  • East River Waterfront Esplanade, South Street: Fence Embroidery with Embellishment
  • 99 Church Street: Walking Men 99*
  • 56 Leonard Street: Rendering Leonard
  • West Thames Park, Battery Park City: It Takes Time to Turn a Space Around
  • Hudson River Park: Botanizing on the Asphalt*
  • 99 Washington Street: Flying Animals*
  • 50 Trinity Place: Poster Project at 50 Trinity
  • Louise Nevelson Plaza, Maiden Lane and William Street: Rainbow Conversation
  • AIG building, 175 Water Street: Green Gate, Summer
  • Street reconstruction site at Houston and Broadway: Houston Fence
  • Goldman Sachs headquarters, 200 West Street: Untitled
  • Fulton Street Transit Center, John Street at Broadway: Best Pedestrian Route
  • Fulton Street reconstruction site, between Broadway and Nassau: Fulton Fence
  • Fulton Street Transit Center, Broadway between Ann and John streets: Concrete Jungle

 * Currently up for viewing