GammaBlog » Toy Tower

Where the Toy Tower Used to Be

gamma — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:06:06 +0000

That’s one of Eddie’s tree sculptures in the upper left corner. As far as I know the foliage and flowers all grew wild after the tower was taken down.

My Toy Tower Videos Here

Eddie’s Big Wind

gamma — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:58:29 +0000

I just finished part two of my Toy Tower Video – Eddie’s Big Wind.
A fierce wind and rain storm, Monday night after the memorial, leaves the tower dangerously leaning into the garden. This accelerates the Parks Department’s plans to tear it down. I again interview the gardeners : Joanee Freedom, Pat Russell, Graywolf and William Hohauser. And we hear from gardeners: Barbara (Improvisational poetry), Steve Jones Daughs (drums) and Tim Young (a sad witness to the final fall of the tower). Plus we hear from various neighbors who were unhappy to see it go, and John, the single angry, vocal protester on the morning of the take-down.

Graywolf tells a great story about how the tower almost came down in an ice storm in 1994, and how Eddie got his friends from Sophie’s bar to save it.

Joanee gives more garden history, and shares her theory about the storm being Eddie’s Wind.

William shares some insight into how Eddie expressed his spirituality.

And Barbara Monoian from the Musee de Monoian gallery says that Eddie was the neighborhood’s keeper of history.

A couple of neighbors expressed glee within earshot that the pile of junk was finally gone, but no one was willing to go on camera to say it.

My Baby – Eddie Boros and the Tower of Toys

gamma — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:35:53 +0000

Eddie’s Big Wind from GammaBlog on Vimeo.
On Sunday May 11th, 2008, the one year memorial for Eddie Boros the creator of the Tower of Toys was held in the 6th and B Community Garden. The NYC Parks department had just declared the tower unsafe and that it must come down. Eddie Boros was an amazing character, he had to be in order to build and preserve from destruction his 60 foot ramshackle tower of salvaged timber and rotting toys from 1985 until 2008, a full year after he died. I interviewed the gardeners and his relatives, asking them to give me stories about Eddie. I combined the interviews with the many photos I’ve taken of the tower, plus photos on the garden bulletin board, as well as some that people put on the garden fence after Eddie died in 2007. This is part one of a planned three parts.
Part Two here

Eddie’s Cross

gamma — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:00:43 +0000

This stump of the tree is all that is left of the Toy Tower. The little You Tube video about it that I intended to be ten minutes long, has turned into a relatively massive project possibly an hour long. I hope to have it ready for showing in a week or so.

Giraffe

gamma — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:21:27 +0000

One of the few toys that made the trip down from the top of the tower apparently undamaged. It seems to be one of the carousel animals Eddie had there.

Toy Tower Topped

gamma — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:01:06 +0000

The famous Tower of Toys by Eddie Boros is being taken down. I’m working on a much longer video about the tower and Eddie, which will probably be done in a week or so. I wanted to get this bit up while it is still fresh news.
Part one and two of the full video here

Toy Tower Down

gamma — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:41:26 +0000

They started taking down the Toy Tower this morning around 9. Most of the toys were dropped, many broke.

Part of one of the many flags Eddie had on the tower.

The workers left it in a pile next to the fence, this guy picked it up and took it away.

Leaning Tower of Toys

gamma — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:43:43 +0000

Perhaps this shot shows the lean more viscerally. I’m starting to think that it may come down on its own. The removal by the Parks Department may have been delayed by the wet weather today. But the rain may be exacerbating the lean, making mud of the soil beneath the tower. And on second look the eastern base is flimsier than I was thinking. Who knows maybe only the roots of the tree it is built around is holding the tower up. Photo from around 2 this afternoon.

Leaning Tower?

gamma — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:23:09 +0000

I based my imagined plumb assuming that segment of roof is horizontal and the fence pole I was resting my camera against is vertical. Not that scientific, but close enough. It does seem to have a slight lean to the west, away from the sidewalk. It is such a web of wildly varied materials, that it is hard to say what may happen. I’m most worried about the western base, any sinking or rotting in those timbers could easily make it leans even further. But then again the massive eastern base could cantilever it, as there are so many interconnections. It is a woven structure, something a bower bird might build. This was around 9 this morning.

Toy Tower Still Stands

gamma — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:52:28 +0000

This is a shot from Tuesday morning. It was still untouched as of 10, this morning. On Sunday I interviewed friends, family and assorted 6th and B gardeners at the memorial for Eddie Boros and his Tower of Toys. I got some amazing stories. Video is to come. The tower is scheduled for removal by the Park’s Department this week. Please let me know if you see the heavy equipment showing up. I’d like to document the take down.

Update: One of the gardeners tells me:

“Due to the strong wind storm and rains a few days ago, the Tower has taken a bit more of a beating and is leaning more. The Parks Department came and decided that we should close down the Garden until (supposedly – Thursday and/or Friday when) the Tower is taken down!”