Design

How 'The Gates' Triumphed Over New York’s NIMBYs

Fifteen years ago, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s audacious public art installation debuted in New York City's Central Park. We’ll never see anything like it again.
In February 2005, Christo and Jeanne-Claude unveiled "The Gates" in New York's Central Park.Joe Tabacca/Bloomberg News

When the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude arrived in New York City from Paris in 1964, the view of Lower Manhattan from their place aboard the transatlantic liner S.S. France stuck with them. Soon after, the married couple, who dreamed of making installations on an urban scale, decided they wanted to do something for their adopted hometown. Christo sketched out an idea, a drawing over a photograph snapped by Jeanne-Claude. His drawing showed two towers, 2 Broadway and 20 Exchange Place, wrapped in fabric and tied up in rope — skyscrapers packaged like gifts to the city.

The answer from the owners of the buildings: Thanks, but no thanks. Nobody was interested in this oddball idea. The artists also couldn’t find a taker for their proposal to wrap One Times Square, the site of the world-famous New Year’s Eve ball drop. The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art likewise demurred.