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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 286-03
October 14, 2003

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF SWEDEN UNVEIL NOBEL MONUMENT IN THEODORE ROOSEVELT PARK

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today unveiled the Nobel Monument in Manhattan’s Theodore Roosevelt Park.  The City of New York and the Consulate General of Sweden in New York erected the monument in New York City in honor of Alfred Nobel and the American Nobel Laureates.  The Mayor was joined at the unveiling ceremony by H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Margareta Winberg, Science Advisor to President Bush and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Dr. John Marburger III, Ambassador of Sweden to the United States Jan Eliasson, Consul General of Sweden in New York Olle Wästberg, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Deputy Mayor for Administration Patricia E. Harris, Commissioner for the New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol Marjorie Bloomberg Tiven and thirty Nobel Prize Laureates.

“New York City is a fitting home for the Nobel Monument which recognizes the efforts Americans have made towards creating a more peaceful, safe, and healthy world,” said Mayor Bloomberg.  “Last week, Nobel Prizes were awarded to six Americans – two of which were New Yorkers.  And I am especially proud to say that of the 271 Americans that have received the Nobel Prize, 24 have been graduates of New York City’s public schools. We are honored to be joining our Swedish friends in marking this historic moment in New York City history and in the history of the Nobel Prize.”

“The monument will be a lasting commemoration of a great Swede, but above all, it will be a monument honoring the many American recipients of the prize,” said Consul General Wästberg.

“The New York City area is home to dozens of Nobel Laureates,” said Commissioner Benepe. “This handsome stone obelisk is the City’s newest permanent work of art and it’s first tribute to intellectual and artistic achievement—a shrine to the mind that will inspire the next generation of Laureates.”

Theodore Roosevelt Park, home to the American Museum of Natural History since 1869, is named for the U.S. President who in 1906 was the first American to win a Nobel Prize (for Peace).  The $400,000 installation and long-term maintenance endowment for the monument was funded primarily by Merck Company Foundation, with additional support from Skanska, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Ambassador and Mrs. Lyndon L. Olson, and NCR Corporation.

The monument is a monolith with four sides of rough-hewn red Swedish granite.  Two steps lead to the monolith and each corner is framed by a rounded piece of polished black diabase (granite).  At the top, each corner is punctuated by small bronze spheres.  A bronze relief medallion, depicting a likeness of Alfred Nobel, is installed on the front face on the monolith.  Below the medallion text reads “Founder of the Nobel Prize, Swedish Inventor, Industrialist, Philanthropist and Humanist” and above reads “Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace, Economics.”  The remaining three sides bear the inscription “American Recipients of the Nobel Prize.”  Beginning on the west face, a chronological list of 271 American recipients of the Nobel prize is inscribed.  Space has been reserved to inscribe the names of future American Nobel prizewinners.  Parks & Recreation renovated the small plaza surrounding the Nobel Monument.  Immediately around the monument there is a ring of red granite.  Beyond that there are rings of belfast black granite pavers, octagonal bands of granite and asphalt paving blocks.

The Nobel Monument was first proposed by the Consulate General of Sweden in New York and American Nobel Laureates. Work began in November 2001 after it received approval from the New York City Art Commission and Landmarks Preservation Commission. The monument was designed by Sivert Lindblom, one of Sweden’s foremost designers of urban spaces and who designed the Holocaust Monument in Stockholm. It was produced by Skånska Granit in Sweden and the typography was designed by Lars Hall AB.

Last week Nobel Prizes were awarded to six Americans, including two New Yorkers: Rockefeller University biophysicist Roderick MacKinnon and NYU economics professor Robert Engle.







MEDIA CONTACT:


Edward Skyler/ Jonathan Werbell   (212) 788-2958

Megan Sheekey   (Parks & Recreation)
(212) 360-1311

Amelie Heinsjö (Consulate General of Sweden)   (212) 583-2554




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