Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Rotating Statues Of 'Miss Brooklyn' & 'Miss Manhattan' Return To Manhattan Bridge
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 10, 2017
Modified Jan 10, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Scott Heins/Gothamist
View all 5
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 10, 2017
Modified Jan 10, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
For 50 years, two lovely granite ladies guarded the Brooklyn entrance to the Manhattan Bridge, but they were unceremoniously banished from their perch in the 1960s after Robert Moses deemed them a distraction. Late last month, the duo, "Miss Brooklyn" and "Miss Manhattan," returned in replica form, and have new features: they can spin and light up. Perhaps they can also receive new era-appropriate names? Ms. Brooklyn and Ms. Manhattan?
The original statues were sculpted by Daniel Chester French, the artist behind the Lincoln Memorial's Abe Lincoln statue and Columbia University's famed "Alma Mater." They currently live outside the Brooklyn Museum, but the new editions—designed by Brian Tolle, who is also responsible for the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park—have been hanging out on a pedestal above Flatbush Avenue and Tillary Street since December 21st. The project took 10 years to complete.
As with the originals, Tolle's statues are allegorical to their respective boroughs. Miss Brooklyn, holding a Roman tablet, sits next to a tree and a child with a book. Miss Manhattan has kicked her foot on top of a chest, and appears to have a pet peacock.
Unlike the originals, however, these works are cast in resin and slowly (very slowly) rotate like the regal Queens they are. And although Moses worried the statues would distract drivers, the city says the new renditions are out of the way and pose no danger.
"This will be something new, but you’ll see it from far away,” Wendy Feuer of the Department of Transportation told the Times, "so it’s not like you’re in a tunnel and coming out and suddenly come upon it. You’ll see it in the distance and then go by it."
You can see the statues from Flatbush Avenue Ext and Tillary in Brooklyn.
Tagged
brooklyn
manhattan
manhattan bridge
miss brooklyn
miss manhattan
original
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
NYC music in October: The Strokes, a Blink-182 cover band, and Polish experimentalism
An excellent and diverse month of concerts are in store for October.
By
Hank Shteamer
Published Oct 2, 2026
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
There is now an (un)official verification process for those who can claim the title of city resident.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
There is now an (un)official verification process for those who can claim the title of city resident.
By
Hannah Frishberg
In the mood for a pastoral autumn experience? Try Queens.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
October is spooky season at the movies in New York City
By
Emma Stefansky
At the Museum at FIT, an argument for dolls as the ultimate fashion influencers
By
Quinn Moreland
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .