This H stands for...
WHAT the H?
A glimmering ‘ H’ hanging under the 12th Ave. Viaduct was illuminated by LED lights to the delight of Harlem residents and community leaders Wednesday night.
But the art installation, called “The H in Harlem,” has nothing to do with the neighborhood where it hangs, lighting artist Bentey Meeker told The Daily News after its unveiling.
“The ‘H’ is just an ‘H,” said Meeker, 46, who lives in East Harlem. “It could be anything. Whatever you like, you choose. It’s an ‘H’ in Harlem.”
Meeker said he was asked by the West Harlem Art Fund, the 125th Street Business Improvement District and the Department of Transportation to create a temporary art piece for the viaduct at W. 125th St. and 12th Ave.
“The ‘H’ is not for Harlem,” insisted Meeker, who has his own lighting design company and has illuminated the White House and the weddings of Billy Joel and Chelsea Clinton.
But that’s not what many others thought.
“I thought it was an ‘H’ for Harlem?” said bus driver Tony Daniels, 26, who was walking by shortly after the installation was unveiled around 8 p.m. “It looks cool.”
Harlem resident Sabrina Domingo, 31, who lives nearby in the Grant Houses, was also puzzled by the Harlem-less H.
“I would have thought it stands for Harlem, or the Hudson,” said Domingo. “For me, it stands for Harlem. I love it.”
The ‘H’ will hang around until Sept. 25 and it will be illuminated between 8:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.