#People are swiping face masks from NYC library’s lions
“#People are swiping face masks from NYC library’s lions”
That’s thanks to vandals who in recent weeks have been targeting the famed pair of marble lion statues that stand guard outside of the library’s historic Midtown branch — by damaging or swiping the giant surgical masks they’ve been donning amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The lions, dubbed Patience and Fortitude, were each outfitted with face masks on June 29 to “remind New Yorkers to wear masks when returning to our branches” and as “a public service announcement to show solidarity to the city,” Iris Weinshall, NYPL’s Chief Operating Officer, told The Post.
But since then, the 3-foot-wide and 2-foot-tall blue masks have been stolen, ripped off, or damaged during five instances between July 1 and as recently as Monday, library officials said.
Last Friday, the masks on both Patience and Fortitude were pilfered, and on Sept. 21, both masks were pulled off and left on the ground outside the landmark literary hub on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.
Additionally, officials said security guards at nearby Bryant Park caught someone red-handed attempting to remove one of the masks on July 10, but the miscreant fled.
Most of the incidents have happened overnight, according to Weinshall, who said that surveillance footage that the library declined to share shows a man and a woman pulling off the lions’ masks on separate occasions.
“It’s a shame that some people feel the need to do this when all we’re trying to do is give out a positive message,” she said. “We just wish people would leave Patience and Fortitude alone.”
Weinshall said she did not believe that the offenders were trying to send a political or anti-mask message.
“I think at night there are a lot of people who hang out at Bryant Park who probably shouldn’t be hanging out there and I think it’s people doing mischief,” she said.
Weinshall noted that every time one of the massive masks gets defiled or robbed, the NYPL has to either replace it or get it cleaned.
“We have tried to figure out different ways to affix [the masks] to the lions, but it’s sort of hard because these lions are treasures,” said Weinshall. “And we don’t want to do anything that will ensnare their beauty and significance to the city.”
To prevent future thefts, the library has reached out to Bryant Park – which controls the property where the lion’s stand — about increasing security, said Weinshall, who noted that the NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct has been alerted to the issue, but a formal complaint has not been filed.
In the meantime, the NYPL has stopped keeping the masks on the lions 24/7.
The masks are now placed on the lions at 9 a.m. and are taken down at 5 p.m., and will not be put up on Sundays.
“Our goal here is to really put out both a public service message, which is wearing masks is a safe way to go now if you’re trying to combat the coronavirus,” said Weinshall. “And two, the library has always been about truth and information, and the lions are trying to share that information with the public as they walk by.”
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