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Standing at the northern entrance of Sara D. Roosevelt Park and looking toward the basketball courts, August can’t come soon enough. Even though summer and the advent of permanent warm weather is right on the doorstep. Yes, this is when those unsightly rubbish heaps will be removed from the entrance.

Artist Jarrod Beck first installed what he calls “Uplift” back in September. It met with quite a bit of local backlash.

The so-called art project is meant to resemble tectonic plates, but with the express function of “redefining” a new pathway into the north entrance of the park. Those undulating piles of mats are composed of recycled roofing shingles and salvaged wood. Now, after a winter of extreme temperatures and precipitation, the eyesore has further decayed.

This was the initial project description:

Uplift asserts a geological presence in Manhattan. Created with recycled roofing shingles and salvaged wood, this sculpture in two parts represents two chunks of stratified tectonic plates that rest along the path between the trees of Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Uplift defines a new path from Houston Street to the basketball courts.

Many around here seem to share the disbelief over how (or why) this design ever attained approval.

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