Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants 10 Frank Gehry buildings in New York City in the next two years, the mayor told a crowd outside the Signature Theater, the latest Gehry building to open in his purview, at its opening today.
As the New York Observer reported, the mayor is prepping his New York legacy with Gehry’s help. “You should know that Frank and I had a conversation backstage,” Bloomberg said and looked at Gehry adding, “and we both committed to each other that we would get 10 more Frank Gehry projects going here — in the next 700 days. If my math is any good, Frank, that is one every 70 days, so we should meet some time later today to get going.”
And the architect had some borderline schmaltzy words for the mayor in return: “I hitched my wagon to the most incredible group of dreamers you’ll ever imagine,” Gehry told the crowd, “including the dreamiest dreamer of all, the mayor of this city, Mayor Bloomberg.”
Among pet projects of Gehry’s for the next 700 days were a new home for the Joyce Theater, which will lose its lease in 2016. [NYO]