A bolted-down, 200 pound replica of the Statue of Liberty was stole from the front of Vox Pop Coffee Shop in Ditmas Park Brooklyn several weeks ago:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/06/2...
Here is the more recent article with the video of the Statue of Liberty getting its head sawed off:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/0...
The Daily News suggests that it is connected to disputes concerning gentrification:
There has been some tension between the community and Vox Pop.
Seen as a harbinger of gentrification, it was both defended and mocked for hitting up locals for donations after being shut down for health violations.
Patrons were horrified that someone would take the dispute so far.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/0...
Here is an email that Vox Pop manager Debi Ryan sent out:
As I am sure you have all heard by now, the Statue of Liberty that stood proudly in front of Vox Pop has been destroyed. The Statue was used in a disturbing video posted on You Tube. I am not sure why they chose our statue to perpetrate this crime, but a crime it is. It has been stolen and destroyed and used as a message of hate and this situation is being taken very seriously by our law enforcement agencies. Whatever their intent may have been, the outcome is clear. I have every confidence that the miscreants will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. While I believe in the right for everyone to say what they think, whether I personally agree with it or not, I do not believe they have the right to destroy someone else's property to do it.
Vox Pop is a community owned coffee shop. We offer fair trade coffees and teas, organic foods, live music, poetry readings, independently published books and a gallery of local artist works. We strive to create a welcoming, open space for people to meet, relax and discuss the world around them. Our broad range of programming includes children's story hour and movement classes, independent film screenings, workshops on sustainability and meditation and even bicycle repair. I am saddened that they chose to target our neighborhood space.
In spite of what you may have read, I am not in fear for my life, I do not feel personally targeted and I don't believe it was trying to shut us up. If they were targeting what we represent, then I guess they were targeting community. Because, to me, that is what Vox Pop represents. And I for one will not let this incident change that. I loved that statue, and I will miss her gracing our garden, standing for our Liberty and our freedom to be whomever we choose to be. While she may be gone, what she symbolizes is still alive and well at Vox Pop.
Debi Ryan
The actual video is located here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfDZWMByAU0
Sander responded to the Daily News article here:
http://sander.gnn.tv/blogs/32382/Liberty_Destroyed...
Can anyone make any sense of this? I find the video pretty creepy and reminiscent of some of the harassing videos (WQ2RX or Dog4Tree) that we were exposed to about a year or so ago.