In New York, Waterfalls Are Nothing New@Lifestyle

"Water has the capacity to be everything for everybody," Mr. Eliasson said at his project's unveiling. For Patrick Quigley, an employee of a pressure-washing company, it was simply part of a day's work at a building on Hudson Street, where the waterfall he caused was imposing mainly to bugs.

Photo: Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

The public art exhibit involves waterfalls created beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and at three other places in the harbor. New York's indigenous waterfalls are more likely to be found on subway platforms and in restaurants.

Photo: Vincent Laforet for The New York Times

"What I like about working with water is the tranquillity," said an employee who was cleaning 169 Hudson Street with a pressure-washer.

Photo: Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

Central Park and its waterfalls "can be compared to a 19th-century Disneyland, designed by architects, constructed by humans and supplied by city water," said Adrian Benepe, parks commissioner. Perhaps, then, the chain of three waterfalls near 100th Street that emanate from an artificial cave could be considered a sort of "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction.

Photo: James Estrin/The New York Times

At the Newkirk Avenue subway station serving the B and Q lines in Brooklyn, a leaky pipe about 20 feet above the platform produces what regulars at the station have come to call the Newkirk Avenue Falls.

Photo: Bess Greenberg/The New York Times

The Newkirk Avenue Falls pose no threat to Niagara. Kristen Miller, a passenger waiting at the station, described the cascade as being "like a faucet. Like a bathtub, filling."

Photo: Bess Greenberg/The New York Times

At the Rosa Mexicano restaurant on Columbus Avenue, a 30-foot-tall, 30-foot-wide wall of water dotted with 284 tiny diver figurines is as alluring a photo backdrop as a mountainside cascade in Acapulco. Here, four graduates of Edward R. Murrow High School pose while celebrating their commencement.

Photo: James Estrin/The New York Times

In the New Springfield section of Staten Island, images of waterfalls and a fountain meant to resemble Polynesian lava pools set the mood in the entrance to the tiki-rich Jade Island Restaurant.

Photo: Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

The 20-foot waterfall at diminutive Paley Park, tucked away on East 53rd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, flows at 1,800 gallons a minute.

Photo: James Estrin/The New York Times

The two-stage waterfall in the 52-acre Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is unusual for its tranquillity. Linda Paleias, a library assistant, does tai chi there during her lunch break. "Water is very ephemeral," Mr. Eliasson said as his own falls made their debut. "It is full of dreams."

Photo: Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

@Source: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/06/29/nyregion/20080629WATERFALLS_index.html