Red Square Lost its Iconic Rooftop Lenin Statue Last Night After 22 Years in the East Village
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It’s been said many times around here the last few years. End of an era this, end of an era that. This time, it’s for Red Square, the luxury rentals building on East Houston.
The 18-foot-tall sculpture of Vladimir Lenin no longer stands triumphant atop the East Village. At sundown last night, a crew of workers on a crane deposed the statue and carted it away. As of this morning, it’s unclear as to why this happened.
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Photo: Julide Tanriverdi
We surmise that the removal has something to do with the purported sale of Red Square over the summer. Indeed, word leaked last month that the 130-unit development was under contract to Dermot Co. for roughly $100 million.
This 18-foot Lenin statue was originally commissioned by the USSR, but the implosion of that country in 1989 – the year Red Square was built at 250 East Houston – prevented its display. The developers of the property, Michael Shaoul and Michael Rosen, reportedly found it trashed in a backyard just outside Moscow and installed it five years later.
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Atop Red Square, September 2010
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