Ralph Kramden Statue By Windsor Sculptor Is Unveiled in New York Los Angeles Times - 29 Aug 2000 - Josh Getlin NEW YORK - It could have been an argument right out of Ralph and Alice Kramden’s kitchen on the Honeymooners. Swelling with indignation, the bus driver shout: One of these days, Alice one of these days they’re gonna build a statue to me in this town!” To which Alice replies: “Sure they will, Ralph. And they’ll call it the Tower of Babel.” Well, hardly har har, Alice, the joke’s on you: As city buses roared by during yesterday’s morning rush hour, New York unveiled an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Kramden in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. In a city where generals, politicians, religious leaders and even a dog have been honored with statues, the Working Stiff immortalized by Jackie Gleason has finally gotten his due. Weighing in at 4,000 pounds, the Kramden memorial - designed by Windsor artist Lawrence J Nowlan, Jr - illustrates the power of television icons in America culture. (“Baby, you’re the greatest!” onlookers shouted as the statue debuted). But it also speaks volumes about the steady commercialization of open public space in New York city. And how commercial it is: The dedication was part of a new campaign by TV Land, a Viacom-owned cable channel, to memorialize iconic characters like Kramden (and boost ratings) across America. The network commissioned the sculpture with the cooperation of Gleason’s estate and promoted the event with the eager cooperation of New York Port Authority officials. They were happy to install a statue donated “by the people of TV Land” at the entrance of America’s busiest bus terminal. “Who better than Ralph Kramden to greet commuters and bus drivers in front of the place where more than 200,000 commuters and 7,000 buses pass through every day?” said Ken Philmus, director of tunnels, bridges, and terminals. “We think this is a wonderful gift to all the people of New York city.” Could Los Angeles be next - maybe Dragnet’s Sgt Joe Friday in front of Parker Center? “I really can’t comment,” said Rob Pellizzi, vice president of marketing for TV Land. “But we are defiantly going to go bicoastal.” Nowadays, you can own a piece of the public rock in New York - but only if the price is right. Concerts in Central Park, generally frowned on by the city officials, can be staged by corporate sponsors who make generous donations to the city coffers. Endangered city gardens bear the names of businesses benefactors. And amid booming real estate values, space in Times Square is generally available to the highest bidders. Sometimes there are glitches. Plans for a statue of Frank Sinatra in Times Square, for example, have run into flak from those worried about traffic congestion. Mayor Rudolph W. Guiliani, a staunch backer of the project, has scoffed at such opposition. He vows that Ole Blue Eyes will get his memorial, right in from of the old Paramount Theater where Sinatra first wowed bobby-soxers in 1942. The Kramden hoopla generated its own gridlock yesterday as onlookers fought for sidewalk space with thousands of commuters pouring out of the terminal. “Hey, Norton, where’s my bagel?” a construction worker shouted at an actor dressed up to look like Ed Norton, Kramden’s loyal companion. “I don’t care who you are, get the hell out of my way!” an impatient bike messenger yelled at Port Authority honchos. As The Honeymooners theme boomed from loudspeakers, Joyce Randolph, the original “Trixie,” pulled a sheet off the statue. Fans broke into cheers and she dabbed tears from her eyes. Randolph and Art Carney, who played Norton, are the sole surviving members of the cast, which also included Gleason and Audrey Meadows as Alice. Many of those who crowded around the statue weren’t even born when the show began airing in 1950, but the blowhard bus driver from Brooklyn and his pals - who lived in a Bensonhurst walk-up - struck a chord. They were average Joes taking time off before work, and the image of Kramden clutching his lunch pail - seeming to burst out of his drab city uniform - triggered some emotional . responses. “I like that guy Kramden,” said construction worker Tino Riveria, jostling for a better view. “He was a big mouth, but there are millions of big mouths in New York. So naturally, people here are going to identify with him.” For Ruthie Escalante, a record store clerk, Kramden’s nonstop battles with his wife - and reconciliation at the end of each show - came about as close to defining married life as anything she has seen on American television. “Gleason really told it like it is,” she said. “And I watch the reruns all the time with my husband. It is a ritual.”

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Ralph Kramden Statue By Windsor Sculptor Is Unveiled in New York

Los Angeles Times - 29 Aug 2000 - Josh Getlin

NEW YORK - It could have been an argument right out of Ralph and Alice Kramden’s kitchen on the Honeymooners. Swelling with indignation, the bus driver shout: One of these days, Alice one of these days they’re gonna build a statue to me in this town!” To which Alice replies: “Sure they will, Ralph. And they’ll call it the Tower of Babel.”

Well, hardly har har, Alice, the joke’s on you: As city buses roared by during yesterday’s morning rush hour, New York unveiled an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Kramden in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. In a city where generals, politicians, religious leaders and even a dog have been honored with statues, the Working Stiff immortalized by Jackie Gleason has finally gotten his due.

Weighing in at 4,000 pounds, the Kramden memorial - designed by Windsor artist Lawrence J Nowlan, Jr - illustrates the power of television icons in America culture. (“Baby, you’re the greatest!” onlookers shouted as the statue debuted). But it also speaks volumes about the steady commercialization of open public space in New York city.

And how commercial it is: The dedication was part of a new campaign by TV Land, a Viacom-owned cable channel, to memorialize iconic characters like Kramden (and boost ratings) across America. The network commissioned the sculpture with the cooperation of Gleason’s estate and promoted the event with the eager cooperation of New York Port Authority officials. They were happy to install a statue donated “by the people of TV Land” at the entrance of America’s busiest bus terminal.

“Who better than Ralph Kramden to greet commuters and bus drivers in front of the place where more than 200,000 commuters and 7,000 buses pass through every day?” said Ken Philmus, director of tunnels, bridges, and terminals. “We think this is a wonderful gift to all the people of New York city.”

Could Los Angeles be next - maybe Dragnet’s Sgt Joe Friday in front of Parker Center? “I really can’t comment,” said Rob Pellizzi, vice president of marketing for TV Land. “But we are defiantly going to go bicoastal.”

Nowadays, you can own a piece of the public rock in New York - but only if the price is right. Concerts in Central Park, generally frowned on by the city officials, can be staged by corporate sponsors who make generous donations to the city coffers. Endangered city gardens bear the names of businesses benefactors. And amid booming real estate values, space in Times Square is generally available to the highest bidders.

Sometimes there are glitches. Plans for a statue of Frank Sinatra in Times Square, for example, have run into flak from those worried about traffic congestion. Mayor Rudolph W. Guiliani, a staunch backer of the project, has scoffed at such opposition. He vows that Ole Blue Eyes will get his memorial, right in from of the old Paramount Theater where Sinatra first wowed bobby-soxers in 1942.

The Kramden hoopla generated its own gridlock yesterday as onlookers fought for sidewalk space with thousands of commuters pouring out of the terminal. “Hey, Norton, where’s my bagel?” a construction worker shouted at an actor dressed up to look like Ed Norton, Kramden’s loyal companion. “I don’t care who you are, get the hell out of my way!” an impatient bike messenger yelled at Port Authority honchos.

As The Honeymooners theme boomed from loudspeakers, Joyce Randolph, the original “Trixie,” pulled a sheet off the statue. Fans broke into cheers and she dabbed tears from her eyes.

Randolph and Art Carney, who played Norton, are the sole surviving members of the cast, which also included Gleason and Audrey Meadows as Alice.

Many of those who crowded around the statue weren’t even born when the show began airing in 1950, but the blowhard bus driver from Brooklyn and his pals - who lived in a Bensonhurst walk-up - struck a chord. They were average Joes taking time off before work, and the image of Kramden clutching his lunch pail - seeming to burst out of his drab city uniform - triggered some emotional .

responses.

“I like that guy Kramden,” said construction worker Tino Riveria, jostling for a better view. “He was a big mouth, but there are millions of big mouths in New York. So naturally, people here are going to identify with him.”

For Ruthie Escalante, a record store clerk, Kramden’s nonstop battles with his wife - and reconciliation at the end of each show - came about as close to defining married life as anything she has seen on American television. “Gleason really told it like it is,” she said. “And I watch the reruns all the time with my husband. It is a ritual.”