Two Central Park Eagles Found 30 Years After Monumental Theft
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Two large bronze eagles stolen from a Central Park monument more than 30 years ago have been seized by federal agents.
Part of a set of four eagles affixed to the corners of the City Employees War Memorial at the northwest end of the mall at Central Park, the pair disappeared in 1976. The city replaced the stolen eagles with bronze replicas about eight years ago.
According to a civil complaint issued yesterday by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District, Michael Garcia, an unnamed source disclosed that the eagles were used as a storage space for narcotics and drug money at a time when Central Park was a popular drug trafficking area.
The drug dealer allegedly removed the eagles from the statue and stored them in a New York residence before selling them for about $200 in the mid-1990s to an alleged drug buyer, who in turn stored them in his New York office, according to the civil complaint.
The information provided by the unnamed source led to a warrant for seizure and the recapture of the eagles in March. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation has not made a decision on how to deal with the recovered statues.
The U.S. attorney’s office would offer no further comment.
