Preservation

(Cleopatra’s Needle) This obelisk is the oldest outdoor monument in New York City and the oldest man-made object in Central Park. Hailing directly from Egypt; Napoleon Bonaparte and his troops sought a souvenir to commemorate their triumph however could not get the heavy 80 foot stone out of Alexandria. Years later the French and British governments negotiated it as a gift to the country’s but still had the tremendous task of extracting the monument. A ship was designed to hold 200 tons and it was sailed back to Europe. After that, the United States believed getting an ancient obelisk was critical to their position as a global leader and negotiated one as a gift. It was sailed over on a decommissioned Egyptian mail ship. William Vanderbilt’s money funded a majority of the journey out of Egypt so it was his choice to site the monument on the knoll behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.