Blown Away

Mendez and friend

"Fight like apes!"

It's not the most grievous loss in superstore Sandy, but it's a loss. On November 17, in this space, I reported on the missing giant blue gorilla that had adorned the roof of the auto auction house and was visible from the viaduct over the Gowanus Canal. I speculated that it had been a casualty to the storm. When I noticed a replacement ape, smaller and sporting matching yellow shades and boxers, I knew I'd have to investigate.

As I approached the gates of the business with my camera, one of the guys in company gear asked, "Monkey?" I asked him what happened to the old one. "It's dead. Gone. Sandy." It blew away and nobody knows where it ended up. Sad. But what an image! A 30 foot inflatable blue gorilla sailing over Brooklyn, the Harbor, Manhattan... who knows where it came to ground?

If you know the whereabouts of "Pithicos," as Mendez told me it was called, please contact me and I will help return him (or her) to its rightful place.

Photos of the Great Ape in its pre-Sandy glory can be seen on the One More Folded Sunset blog.