"Mini Bean" unveiled in New York, from artist behind "Cloud Gate" at Millennium Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago's iconic Bean is getting some company in the Big Apple.
Last week, New York City unveiled its own sculpture – designed by the very same artist – to mirror the famed Chicago landmark.
The new sculpture amount to a smaller version of "Cloud Gate," and was created by the same artist, British sculptor Anish Kapoor. It sits at the base of skyscraper at 56 Leonard St. in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan – which was completed in 2017 and is colloquially known as the Jenga Tower.
"The Mini Bean," as it's already being dubbed, is 19 feet high and weighs about 40 tons. It is carefully wedged against the Jenga Tower , so the mirror effect can still be seen on all sides. Unlike Cloud Gate, it lies flat on the ground, so visitors can't walk under the center to take pictures from below.
The project has been four years in the making, but construction delays and the pandemic pushed back the unveiling.
CBS 2's Jermont Terry went to Millennium Park Thursday night to see what Chicagoans and tourists visiting our fair city think of this new counterpart to our landmark.
Of course, anyone heading to Millennium Park likely stops off at The Bean – in the middle of AT&T Plaza. The Bean is made of 168 stainless steel plates that were welded together to create a shiny exterior that serves as a distorted mirror for those milling around the park.
As Chicago landmarks go, The Bean is not that old. Assembly began in March 2004 – coming up on just 19 years ago – and it was unveiled in July 16 of that same year. By contrast the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza will turn 56 this year, and Buckingham Fountain will turn 96.
But The Bean was quick to become one of Chicago's most popular symbols.
"The Bean is a Chicago staple," said proud Chicagoan Vanessa Hammond.
Hammond and her friend Gabi Kopec, who is visiting from Canada, were out snapping images of The Bean Thursday night. Yet they were shocked when Terry showed them pictures of a different Bean all the way in New York City.
"They're trying to be Chicago so bad," Hammond said.
Indeed, Chicagoans and tourists alike were none too excited to hear about the new Bean at the base of the Jenga Tower in Tribeca. Terry talked with a man from Norway who did not like the idea either.
"I don't know what to say, but I understand for you that it's not a good thing that they copied," he said.
New York is known for a lot. It's known for things everyone loves, like sunny days at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, or the views of New York Harbor from The Battery, or that postcard view toward the East River from DUMBO, Brooklyn. It's known for things people aren't so fond of, like having to wait at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, or an A Train that stops and gets delayed right in the middle of that long express stretch between 59th and 125th streets. And there are those things that are a matter of personal tastes – is Times Square dazzling, or does it try your patience?
But New York City is not known for The Bean – only Chicago is. And the people Terry met in Millennium Park don't see that changing.
"You go to Central Park. You don't think of like, 'Oh, I'm going to go see the Little Bean,'" Kopec said. "You come to Chicago and you're like, 'Oh, that's The Bean.'"
The Millennium Park visitors also wondered why artist who designed The Bean wanted to mount something similar elsewhere.
"You've got to get some creativity," Kopec said. "Now you're going to start putting the bean everywhere?"
And that Bean out East is already getting some new nicknames that amount to something of a Bronx cheer.
"Maybe the pork and bean," one woman said.
"The dupe - the New York dupe," said Hammond – attempting a New York accent.
Whatever the case, the duplicate shows Chicago is not the second city.
"No, they envy us that's why," a woman said. "They're copying."
