“The New York City Waterfalls” is a public art project of four man-made waterfalls rising from New York Harbor, some as high as the Statue of Liberty. Organized by the nonprofit Public Art Fund and the city of New York, it is being billed as the city’s biggest such project since “The Gates,” the $20 million effort by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 2005.
The artist Olafur Eliasson’s much-publicized initiative cost $15 million. It will appear from June 26 to Oct. 13 and run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
City officials and the Public Art Fund say that no city money is being used to pay for the waterfalls, with all of the funds coming from foundations, corporations and private supporters.
Mr. Elliasson’s waterfall installation was tested for the first time in pre-dawn light on Tuesday, two days before the official launch of the exhibit.
The locations for the waterfalls include Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge; one in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge; another between Piers 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and a fourth on the north shore of Governors Island.
This is Mr. Eliasson’s first public art project in New York.
The Waterfalls are erected on the shoreline and have been designed to protect water quality and aquatic life.
