Lenin has fallen in the East Village. Well, not technically fallen; but sometime late last night the statue of former communist leader Vladimir Lenin that has presided over the rooftop of quirky East Houston rental building Red Square for just over two decades was hoisted down. The statue's removal comes amid claims that the building sold to developer Dermot Company for $100 million. If the removal of the building's iconic rooftop fixture doesn't substantiate that sale, it at least continues to prove that something is up.

Ephemeral New York noted that the 18-foot-tall statue was originally commissioned by the U.S.S.R., but the socialist state's dismantling in 1989 prohibited it from going on display overseas. Red Square, built in that same year, proved a suitable home.

The fate of the Lenin statue is unknown, but a tipster tells EV Grieve that the rental's original developer, Michael Rosen, has purchased the iconic piece of Soviet (and East Village) history.

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