While it is not allowed to have statues of Thomas Jefferson or Teddy Roosevelt, among others, in New York City, a 12 ft bronze statue of a random fat black woman just standing there is certainly permitted.
The new statue in Times Square is named Grounded in the Stars. The puropse of it, according to it’s creator Thomas J Price, is to be a “stark contrast” to two statues in Duffy Square of Father Francis Duffy and George M. Cohan, and a way of “disrupting traditional ideas” of what a “triumphant figure” is.
“In a culture that increasingly encourages a faster pace, Grounded in the Stars is an introspective meditation on humanity,” the artist’s website states, claiming the statue should “instigate meaningful connections and bind into an emotional state that allow for deeper reflection around the Human condition and greater cultural diversity.”
