After the famous Jim Powers-decorated light poles — part of Powers’s life’s work known as the “Mosaic Trail” — were removed from Astor Place, many feared that they would be lost forever. Now it’s being reported that discussions have begun to return the landmark artworks.
The lamp posts were removed earlier this year as part of the capital works project, a $16 million transformation of the Astor Place area. At the time, the Department of Transportation said that the light poles would be stored in Queens and eventually reinstated. According to Bowery Boogie:
A joint Astor Place Task Force forged between Community Boards 2 and 3 proposes to re-incorporate Power’s ten existing light poles into the new design as decorative installations (i.e. not powered). The group will meet next week to further discuss three configuration options, including one possibility where all mosaic fixtures line the east side of Cooper Square.
At the time of the posts’s removal, Jim Powers a.k.a Mosaic Man, told DNAinfo, “I don’t want no monuments left to me out there. I want nothing.”
