Without any apparent signs of Russian hacking, the Lower East Side’s landmark Lenin statue was reinstalled last Friday morning at a new home, on a plinth atop the rooftop of 178 Norfolk St. It’s just a stone’s throw from its former longtime perch, atop the formerly aptly named Red Square, at 250 E. Houston St., where it had stood since 1994, three years after the building’s opening. The statue of the Red leader was exiled from Red Square last September, shortly after it was reported that the 130-unit building was in contract to be sold to new
owners for $100 million. Michael Rosen, Red Square’s original developer, and Michael Shaoul, who runs the building’s managing agent, were behind originally putting Lenin on the E. Houston St. building’s rooftop nearly 25 years ago. They are owner partners in the nearby 178 Norfolk St. Peter Marciano, who maintains all of Rosen and Shaoul’s properties, had the statue’s reinstallation videoed with a drone. The monument once again faces toward Wall Street. As for the erstwhile Red Square, its name was also stripped by the new owners.
Lincoln Anderson
