It’s a good thing that artist Eddie Boros is dead cause if he was around and the NYC Parks Department came to dismantle his notorious Tower of Toys it would have been a bloody battle. The tower, which stands at least five stories tall, is made of wood and packed with art, stuffed animals, old toys, plastic things and other strange found objects. The scrappy eccentric was a take-no-shit kind of guy and had been fighting to keep his tower for years. While some consider it an eyesore, others might see it as the last bastion of a rapidly gentrified neighborhood that has already consumed East Village icons: The Gas Station and Save the Robots, among others like the Rap Artist Theatre, weed spots, and a fenceless Tompkins Square Park. Here’s the official word from the community garden who certainly doesn’t have the fight that Eddy did:

“Recently the NYC Parks Department has determined that the Tower of Toys is unsafe and has ordered it be removed. Parks Department will begin dismantling it soon. As the tower’s future is now very uncertain, the 6 & B Garden would like to invite all admirers of the tower and its creator, Eddie Boros, who passed away a year ago, to spend an evening in the garden with each other and celebrate this landmark of the East Village.”

Here’s a nice flickr set of Eddie’s Tower. |VanishingNewYork|
Photo: |JouJou Bees|