If the government’s $85 billion bailout wasn’t enough to keep A.I.G. employees smiling through September, perhaps the Downtown Alliance’s latest public art program did the trick. With A.I.G.’s help, the Alliance installed a tree-studded banner above the sidewalk shed at A.I.G.’s 175 Water St. headquarters. Real preexisting trees pop up over the banner in some places, looking almost like a continuation of the artwork. The installation is part of the Alliance’s Re:Construction initiative, launched in November 2007, to add artwork to construction sites. Another recent addition to Lower Manhattan’s landscape is the multicolored fence at Houston St. and Broadway, where the city is reconstructing the street. Each corner of the intersection features a different color of plastic squares used to fill in the links of the fence for a pixilated effect.
