Eddie Boros
Encyclopedia
Eddie Boros was a New York
house painter
and artist
, famous primarily for building the "Tower of Toys" in a community garden in Manhattan
's East Village
.
, on East 5th St. and Avenue B, that he was living in when he died. His rent, in 2007, was $68.00.
Boros served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War
, but was such an adamant pacifist that he was assigned to plant trees.
He began building his tower out of scrap wood in 1985, after his frequent attempts at carving
Wood
sculptures in the garden met with opposition from other tenants. Over time, the tower grew to a height
of 65 ft, and was otherwise notable for being covered with a variety of toy
s. The tower appeared in the opening credits
for the television show
NYPD Blue
and also appears in the musical RENT
.
Boros died at the age of 74 while recuperating
after having both legs
amputated above the knee
. He died at Mary Immaculate Hospital after his relatives allegedly found him to be malnourished at the VA hospital he had been sent to in St. Albans, Queens
.
Part of the 12th Annual Lower East Side Festival for the Arts was dedicated to Eddie Boros' memory.
In July 2011, a play entitled "Tower of Toys," written and directed by New York playwright Jackob G. Hofmann was presented at the Lion Theatre, NYC
as a part of Samuel French's annual short play festival. The play's fictional narrative explores a troubled relationship and also shows how art, such as Mr. Boros' sculpture,
has the profound power to affect community, culture, and people.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
house painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, famous primarily for building the "Tower of Toys" in a community garden in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
.
Biography
Eddie Boros was born in New York on November 27. 1934 as the middle son of two Hungarian immigrants, a house painter and a seamstress. He grew up in the same apartmentApartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
, on East 5th St. and Avenue B, that he was living in when he died. His rent, in 2007, was $68.00.
Boros served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, but was such an adamant pacifist that he was assigned to plant trees.
He began building his tower out of scrap wood in 1985, after his frequent attempts at carving
Wood carving
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...
Wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
sculptures in the garden met with opposition from other tenants. Over time, the tower grew to a height
Height
Height is the measurement of vertical distance, but has two meanings in common use. It can either indicate how "tall" something is, or how "high up" it is. For example "The height of the building is 50 m" or "The height of the airplane is 10,000 m"...
of 65 ft, and was otherwise notable for being covered with a variety of toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
s. The tower appeared in the opening credits
Opening credits
In a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
for the television show
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
and also appears in the musical RENT
Rent
Rent may refer to:*Renting, a system of payment for the temporary use of something owned by someone else ; the payments for such use are typically referred to as "rent"...
.
Boros died at the age of 74 while recuperating
Recuperation
Recuperation, in common usage, refers to a period of recovery. This has many uses, from medicine, in which sense it refers to the process by which medical patients recover from disease, injury, or mental illness, or finance, where it refers to the financial recovery of an individual or company....
after having both legs
Human leg
The human leg is the entire lower extremity or limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region; however, the precise definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle.Legs are used for standing,...
amputated above the knee
Knee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
. He died at Mary Immaculate Hospital after his relatives allegedly found him to be malnourished at the VA hospital he had been sent to in St. Albans, Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
.
Part of the 12th Annual Lower East Side Festival for the Arts was dedicated to Eddie Boros' memory.
In July 2011, a play entitled "Tower of Toys," written and directed by New York playwright Jackob G. Hofmann was presented at the Lion Theatre, NYC
as a part of Samuel French's annual short play festival. The play's fictional narrative explores a troubled relationship and also shows how art, such as Mr. Boros' sculpture,
has the profound power to affect community, culture, and people.