BRONZE DOG OF WAR

This statue is in the ddoghouse. A 900-pound bronze scsculpture of a natty canine in a bubusiness suit holding a red apple was set to be unveiled in the hearthea of Chinatown Thursday to ring ini the Year of the Dog. But thoseth plans were scrapped after rresidents barked that it would be a desecration to the hallowehallowed Kimlau Square, which honors fallen US service membersbers of CChinese descent. “This iinsulting image of a ‘ DogMan’ has no place next to this sacredcred and solemn community site where we honor our community heroes,” grousedgro local arts advocate Amy Chin on her online petition, which had 5225 signatures as of Friday, the first day of the Lunar New Year. “This is offensiveo in light of the long history of degrading caricatures of Chinese aas dog eaters in American popular culculture.” The Chinatown Partnership commissionedm world-famous husband-and-wife artists Gillie and Marc Schattner to create one of their sisignature sculptures for the installinstallation. Their 7-foot-tall Paparazziparazzi DogmanDog and Paparazzi Rabbitgirl were installed last summer in front of 1221 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown to rave reviews.

“In Chinese tradition, when a dog enters a home it symbolizes the coming of good fortune. The Dogman will bring good fortune to all for the New Year!” trumpeted the proposal.

But some neighborhood residents, like actor-musician Geoff Lee, scoffed that the “culturally insensitive statue made by Australians . . . is irrelevant to the Chinatown community and its cultural heritage; namely, a man with a dog’s head, dressed in Western garb, sitting in a yoga position, carrying a symbol of NYC, located at Kimlau Square — a war memorial? You cannot be further off-base!”

Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, said Friday the controversy is a “bunch of made-up, trumped-up bulls--t.

“It’s the Year of the Dog!” he said, exasperated. He said he hopes another community group will take the statue.

A city Parks Department spokeswoman said the agency “supports the Chinatown Partnership’s decision to find an alternative location for this public artwork, and we are working closely with them to accommodate its installation as soon as possible.”

Kimlau Square is named after Second Lt. Benjamin Ralph Kimlau, a Chinese-American World War II bomber pilot killed in 1944.