New York's public art scene blooms with spring installations across all five boroughs
This spring, New York City is alive with new public art installations adorning its streets and parks. At West 22nd Street along the High Line, visitors can admire Derek Fordjour’s vibrant mural, Backbreaker Double (2025), depicting marching band drum majors. Nearby, Raven Halfmoon’s West Side Warrior (2025), a ceramic bust featuring an Indigenous woman, enhances the spirit of Little West 12th Street. In Midtown, Monira Al Qadiri’s striking purple sculpture, First Sun (2025), stands next to the Plaza. Judith Modrak's Nurturing Tree commemorates a 300-year-old elm lost in 2023, while Brooklyn Bridge Park showcases Woody De Othello's sculptural takes on African heritage.
Key facts
- Derek Fordjour's Backbreaker Double (2025) is on the High Line at West 22nd Street
- Raven Halfmoon's West Side Warrior (2025) is at Little West 12th Street on the High Line
- Monira Al Qadiri's First Sun (2025) is beside the Plaza in Midtown
- Judith Modrak's Nurturing Tree won the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association's 2025 Peace Prize
- The Mother Elm Tree was felled in 2023
- Woody De Othello's sculptures at Brooklyn Bridge Park are supported by Public Art Fund
- Shellyne Rodriguez's Phoenix Ladder commemorates loss of 80% of housing in the Bronx in the 1970s
- Graciela Cassel's Orange Kaleidoscope has 56 mirrors and is made of steel
Entities
Artists
- Derek Fordjour
- Raven Halfmoon
- Monira Al Qadiri
- Judith Modrak
- Woody De Othello
- Shellyne Rodriguez
- Graciela Cassel
- Andrés Rodríguez von Rabenau
- Timothy Schenck
- Sylvie Rosokoff
- Esperanza Cortes
- Nicholas Knight
Institutions
- High Line
- High Line Art
- Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association
- Public Art Fund
- Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
Locations
- New York City
- High Line
- West 22nd Street
- Little West 12th Street
- Midtown
- Plaza
- Stuyvesant Square
- Stuyvesant Park
- East River
- Brooklyn Bridge Park
- Bronx
- Grand Concourse
- Morris Avenue
- Pelham Bay Park
- Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum