Giant Arm Statue Planned for Downtown Brooklyn

Image courtesy of Hank Willis Thomas

Don’t get too excited, because this is all very preliminary, but the Brooklyn end of the Brooklyn Bridge could soon be home to a 20-foot statue of an arm.

The arm, as currently proposed by local sculptor Hank Willis Thomas, who has some experience sculpting arms, would be a right arm. It would rise from the center divide on Tillary Street at Adams Street. It would be made of bronze. And it would be thrusting its fist toward the sky with an outstretched index finger, as if to point upward or perform the universal gesture for ”No. 1.”

Thomas said in a statement sent to Patch that the extended finger represents “the spirit of Brooklyn,” which ”has always been about upward mobility and connection to roots.”

He continued: ”The large-scale sculpture of an arm pointing toward the sky is meant to connote a myriad of ideas about individual and collective identity, ambition and perseverance.”

The artist admitted to Brooklyn Paper that the statue could also be interpreted as a message to the other boroughs that Brooklyn is No. 1.

“It can be read as we are number one, but also that we are all one,” he said.

Thomas’ initial rendering of the arm, pictured above, was commissioned by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and approved by a large majority of Brooklyn’s Community Board 2 last week.

“Most people [on the board] were pleased with the design,” Robert Perris, district manager for Community Board 2, told Patch. He added, however, that ”there was some concern over the location, aesthetically... or whether it might be a distraction for drivers coming off the bridge.”

Brooklyn Paper explained the mess of red tape still ahead for the arm:

“The sculpture is not set in stone yet. The city is currently in the middle of the first phase of a $19.5-million make-over of the Adams Street entrance to the bridge, and the sculpture is part of a still-up-in-the-air second phase that would further spruce-up Tillary Street.

If the sequel goes ahead, a law that requires all city-funded capital projects over $20 million to include a visual arts component will kick in and the arm will rise.”

The next step for the arm will be a public hearing before Community Board 2. So if you have any strong opinions about the arm either way, keep an eye on the board’s meeting agendas in the coming weeks.