Lenin Statue Removed From East Village 'Red Square'

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — The iconic statue of Vladimir Lenin — the one that stood on the roof of the East Village residential building affectionately known as "Red Square" for 22 years — was removed from the building Monday evening, local blog EVGrieve reported.

The 18-foot statue of the late Russian leader was hauled off the roof with a crane-like system and placed on a carrier truck, according to photos from EVGrieve readers.

"Red Square" was reported by the New York Post to have been purchased in August by Dermot Company, a management group that owns several buildings in Manhattan. There are no official records that show the building's sale, however.

A 1997 column of the New York Times said the statue by Yuri Gerasimov was originally commissioned by the Soviet Union, but it was never put on display because the Soviet Union dissolved soon after. An associate of Michael Shaoul's, a co-owner of "Red Square," apparently found the statue in the backyard of a dacha outside Moscow.

The building's name is "Red Square" to commemorate the year it was built, 1989, which was also the year the Soviet Union dissolved. The man who designed the building, Michael Rosen, has since apologized for its ugliness.

Image via Google Maps