Symbol of Wall Street Meltdown Gussied Up With Vinyl Trees

The Downtown Alliance is back with round two of its Re:Construction initiative, where ongoing eyesore construction projects get dressed up with public art. The two new projects are Houston Fence (top left), in which 480 feet of chain link fence along Houston Street and Broadway are now, like, different colors or something. The other is called Green Gate, Summer (top right), and it's a vinyl banner depicting a "kaleidoscope of trees and blue sky incorporating the protruding trees from the plaza below." That one is at 175 Water Street in the Financial District. Hey, that's an AIG building! What's going to happen to that thing? Well, Crain's reports that the insurance giant—now brought to you by the federal government—may sell off the Water Street building as well as 70 Pine Street and 72 Wall Street in an effort to raise cash. Might the FiDi soon be getting three more residential conversions?
· For Sale sign looming for three AIG towers [Crain's]
· The Lighter Side of an Endless Construction Mess: Public Art! [Curbed]