Manhattan was our oyster as we visited public sculptures in Harlem to the Battery

DUKE ELLINGTON: This memorial to the dapper jazz pianist and bandleader, above and below, is on Fifth Avenue and 110th Street in Manhattan, in the northeast corner of Central Park. It's 25 feet high.

GATEWAY TO HARLEM: Ellington is one of four African-Americans honored at Central Park North, along with Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass.

Opening up after the lockdown,

the city still is easy to navigate

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A list of public sculptures I hand-copied from a newspaper more than a decade ago has always tempted me, but Manhattan usually is so frenetic, I just transferred the piece of paper from one planner to another year after year.

Now, with the city just starting to emerge from the long lockdown designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, my wife and I decided Saturday seemed like a good time to go and see them.

The weather was sunny but cool, traffic was light; and we could stop, park and photograph them without a problem.

After we crossed the George Washington Bridge, we visited the sculptures from north to south.

Now, I'll be looking for an updated list of sculptures, monuments and statues to explore on a future trip into Manhattan.

KEITH HARING: This Crack is Wack mural was painted by artist Keith Haring on handball court walls in 1986, and was intended to send a serious anti-drug message to the community, according to the city Parks Department. Go to East 127th Street, Second Avenue and the Harlem River Drive.

I'M LATE, I'M LATE: This large bronze statue of Alice, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll's classic book is in Central Park. Enter the park on Fifth Avenue near 76th Street, and ask for directions to the statue.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER: This mosaic, "Intelligence Awakening Mankind," is on the wall above the entrance to 1250 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue).

VENUS DE MILO: This sculpture by Jim Dine, on Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street, wasn't on our list, but I took a photo from the car as we drove away from the Rockefeller Center mosaic in the photo above.

GAY LIBERATION: Also on our list was the Stonewall Inn at 51-53 Christopher St., in Greenwich Village, where we saw an updated message from the Black Lives Matter movement.

LGBTQ: Stonewall Inn was a gay bar that was raided on June 28, 1969, but patrons and a crowd outside resisted. "This uprising catalyzed the LGBTQ civil rights movement, resulting in increased visibility for the community that continues to resonate in the struggle for equality," according to this plaque.

BUST OF SYLVETTE: Designed by Pablo Picasso and fabricated by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, this massive stone sculpture is in the courtyard of 505 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan. 

UNDER WRAPS: Charging Bull, a bronze sculpture on Broadway, just north of Bowling Green in Manhattan's Financial District, has been covered to prevent any damage during Black Lives Matter demonstrations and protests, and was being guarded by several police officers on Saturday. They directed us to the statues in the photos below.

OUR FIRST PRESIDENT: This large bronze sculpture of George Washington is on a pedestal in front of Federal Hall at 26 Wall St., where he was sworn in as the first president of the United States in 1789. 

WOMEN'S DAY: The Fearless Girl Statue was moved to protect it during the protests. The statue, commissioned by an asset management company, was installed on March 7, 2017, the day before International Women's Day.

OUR LAST STOP: The Group of Four Trees at the Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza was our last stop before we drove home. The address is 28 Liberty St. in Manhattan.

ONE WAY: On the way to see Group of Four Trees, the navigation system in our Toyota Prius sent us down this "street" in the Financial District. Our Prius just fit.