Roosevelt Triangle

New York City's Greenstreets program has turned many street-side and intersection locations into patches of green. These aren't really parks, but sometimes I come across one that, for one reason or another, seems to merit a mention here. One such is Roosevelt Triangle in Harlem, a space at the intersection of W. 125 St. and Morningside Ave. distinguished by the 5,500-pound bronze sculpture "Harlem Hybrid" by Richard Howe Hunt.

The Parks Department acquired the triangle and dedicated it to FDR in 1941. The Peter Putnam-Mildred Andrews Fund donated the sculpture in 1976, and Roosevelt Triangle was renovated in 2000.

The sculpture is said to resemble "a natural outcropping and also is inspired by the architecture and design of neighboring buildings," but elsewhere I've read that Hunt's work is entirely abstract. To me it looks (from the north side) like a stiletto-heeled shoe. (See the right side of the photo here.

With its constant tearing down and rebuilding, New York City is a difficult place to position an artwork to suggest the forms of nearby buildings. After all, a sculpture of this size and heft might last a lot longer than those buildings!

Regardless, stop by and admire it when you get a chance – perhaps in honor of Black History Month.