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City removes, set to destroy giant LES bench

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | MNaanes@am-ny.com

6:24 PM EST, December 19, 2007

A raised park bench mysteriously ended up on a traffic island at the intersection of Houston and Suffolk streets. (Patrick Verel / December 17, 2007)

A bench fit for a giant that piqued the curiosity of Lower East Side residents is no longer perched on the median where it mysteriously appeared earlier this week.

The Department of Transportation unbolted Wednesday the 8-foot bench from the cement strip at Houston and Suffolk Streets.

Now the owner has 48 hours to claim the wobbly art installation--or it will be scrapped.

"This bench was unauthorized and was not safely bolted to the sidewalk, and therefore it has been removed," DOT spokesman Ted Timbers.

The discovery of the chair was first reported by Gothamist.com

The transportation department is holding the structure at an undisclosed location in Manhattan.

The agency posted fliers in the neighborhood where it emerged, asking the owner to call 212-487-8341 to reclaim it.