Dog Walkers vs. Nannies

Victor Kerlow

Dear Diary,

On a recent trip to New York, I expressed admiration for the dog walkers, who manage packs of five or six dogs with aplomb and skill.

“How do you think they do that?” I asked my wife.

“I don’t know,” she answered, “but have you noticed that they look much happier than the nannies?”

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A Flashlight’s Peek Inside a Sculptor’s Masterpiece

It is Fifth Avenue’s most exclusive space, in one of its most public landmarks.

How exclusive? No one has been inside since 1990. And no one can dream of getting inside who has more than a 32-inch waist. (That includes this reporter.)

But the space is briefly open again for inspection, allowing at least a peek inside with flashlights and mirrors.

“It looks like something from Jules Verne,” said Christopher J. Nolan, the vice president for planning, design and construction at the Central Park Conservancy.

Mr. Nolan is right. The interior of the Sherman Monument at the southeast corner of Central Park â€" a sculptural masterpiece by Augustus Saint-Gaudens â€" really does look like something out of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”; equal parts organic, mechanical, equine and steampunk.

The 110-year-old monument at Grand Army Plaza, Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, is undergoing its first significant restoration since 1990. This fall, repaired and regilded, it will be on view again.

A four-story cocoon of scaffolding now surrounds the sculpture. It affords a close-up view of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union leader who marched through Georgia, believed war was hell and sat many hours for Saint-Gaudens; a winged Victory whose horror suggests she knows at what price victories are won; and a mount modeled on a high-jumping show horse named Ontario, which the artist admired at Madison Square Garden, and on the horse of Selene from the Parthenon.

Inside the cavity of the horse’s body, under a flashlight’s glare, one sees sinuous sections of cast bronze bolted together with such precision that the hairbreadth seams are almost invisible from the exterior.

Without a flashlight, pinpoints of daylight can be seen marking the location of weepholes â€" holes that were deliberately cut into the lower parts of the sculpture to allow rainwater and melted snow to drain out. Some holes have been blocked by iron pins that were used in the casting process but broke off over the years.

That was what Matthew Reiley was fishing for last week, with a magnet attached to a slender telescoping rod. Mr. Reiley is the associate director of conservation at the Central Park Conservancy, which is responsible for maintaining all the park’s monuments, statues and fountains. As M. C. Reiley, he is also a sculptor in cast metal.

As he gingerly extracted a heavily rusted six-inch-long pin, Mr. Reiley said the sight of such detritus conjured the ghosts of the original fabricators. “It’s a piece of junk,” he said, “but I’m in love. As a foundryman, it’s like we’re brothers.”

“The quality of this casting is unparalleled,” Mr. Reiley said.

A few feet away, John Harrigan, a conservator for Central Park who is also a figurative sculptor in his own right, was painstakingly welding and gently working the palm frond carried in Victory’s left hand, to strengthen the deteriorated junctures between leaves and stalk and then return the metal to its smooth, slender profile.

“This is where art, conservation and dentistry all meet,” Mr. Nolan said.

Even the hatch into the interior, invisible to any passerby, has been molded to fit perfectly into the contours of the horse’s croup, or rump. Ordinarily, the hatch is covered by a bronze version of a crupper strap, which runs from the saddle to a loop around the horse’s tail. The crupper strap in the Sherman Monument can be unscrewed and pulled aside to allow the hatch door to be lifted off.

The artist’s attention to detail, which bordered on the obsessive, is everywhere evident. The copyright notice on the left rear hoof is not just MCMIII, but May MCMIII.

“He didn’t speak a lot about his art, but he did say that because sculpture lasts so long, it’s a crime to do anything but the very best,” Henry J. Duffy, the museum curator at the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, N.H., and an adviser to the conservancy on the Sherman Monument.

A bigger picture emerges from the sum of these details.

The Sherman Monument is surely one of the most glorious public sculptures in New York, often overlooked because it is such a familiar sight, lording it over the horse-drawn carriages, pigeons, tourists, pigeons, food vendors, pigeons, office workers and pigeons that crowd Grand Army Plaza.

“Saint Gaudens thought it was the best work he ever did â€" and that’s saying a lot,” Mr. Duffy said. That would place the Sherman Monument, in the artist’s eyes, ahead of such landmarks as the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, opposite the State House in Boston, and the Adams Memorial in the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington.

“In that piece, Saint-Gaudens really brought the equestrian genre to another level,” Mr. Duffy said. “The animal represents action. The man represents intellect. But then he adds allegory. It brings us out of the ordinary and almost into the spiritual.”

‘Elysium’ Tops Weekend Box Office

Neill Blomkamp’s “Elysium” was No. 1 at North American theaters, but ticket sales nonetheless fell well short of expectations. An R-rated science-fiction tale about haves and have-nots, “Elysium” (Sony Pictures Entertainment) took in an estimated $30.5 million over the weekend. That’s a solid total, but the studio, which has had a rough summer at the box office, had hoped that the film would deliver opening-weekend ticket sales of $35 million to $40 million.

“Elysium,” co-produced by Sony and Media Rights Capital and starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, cost about $110 million to make. To compare, Mr. Blomkamp’s “District 9” cost $30 million to make and took in $37.4 million over its first three days in August 2009; it ultimately took in $210.8 million worldwide.

For the weekend, “We’re the Millers” (Warner Brothers) was a strong second, selling $26.6 million in tickets, for a total since opening on Wednesday of $38 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. “We’re the Millers,” an R-rated comedy, cost about $37 million to make. In third place with $22.5 million in ticket sales was Disney’s “Planes,” a movie that cost about $50 million to make and was initially planned as a direct-to-DVD release. “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” (20th Century Fox) was a soft fourth, taking in about $14.6 million, for a total of $23.5 million since opening on Wednesday; this fantasy sequel cost about $90 million to make. To compare, “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” took in $31.2 million over its first three days in February 2010. The holdover “2 Guns” (Universal) was fifth, with about $11.1 million in sales, for a two-week total of $48.5 million.

Aug. 11: Where the Candidates Are Today

Planned events for the mayoral candidates, according to the campaigns and organizations they are affiliated with. Times are listed as scheduled but frequently change.

Kenan Christiansen and Nicholas Wells contributed reporting.

Event information is listed as provided at the time of publication. Details for many of Ms. Quinn events are not released for publication.Maps of all campaign events since April »

Events by candidate

Albanese

De Blasio

Lhota

Liu

Quinn

Thompson

Weiner

Group event

John A. Catsimatidis
Republican

10 a.m.
Sponsors a pre-parade Dominican Day breakfast at the New York Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.

12:45 p.m.
Brings his own float to participate in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day parade, which runs along Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in Manhattan.

Bill de Blasio
Democrat

10:30 a.m.
Addresses congregants, along with his wife, Chirlane McCray, at Wayside Baptist Church in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

11:30 a.m.
Speaks, with his wife, Chirlane McCray, at New Jerusalem Church of the Nazarene in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

12:20 p.m.
Along with his wife, Chirlane McCray, and the City Council candidate Mercedes Narcisse, speaks at his third church service of the day, at the Refuge Temple in Brooklyn.

12:50 p.m.
At his fourth church service of the day, speaks at Church of God on Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn, along with his wife, Chirlane McCray, and the City Council candidate Mercedes Narcisse.

1:45 p.m.
Marches with his wife, Chirlane McCray, in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day Parade which runs along Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in Manhattan.

3:30 p.m.
Attends the seventh annual Arab American Bazaar with his wife, Chirlane McCray, along Shore Road in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

6:35 p.m.
Greets concertgoers, along with the actress Cynthia Nixon and his family, at Celebrate Brooklyn! â€" featuring a live score to “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” by Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin and the Wordless Music Orchestra, at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn.

John C. Liu
Democrat

8:15 a.m.
Attends services at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, which William Thompson visited in mid-April, on Decator Street in Brooklyn.

10 a.m.
Addresses congregants at Elim International Fellowship Church, another church that William Thompson visited previously, in Brooklyn.

11 a.m.
Speaks at his third church service of the day, before an audience that Anthony Weiner previously addressed, St. Paul Community Baptist Church on Hendrix Street in Brooklyn.

12:15 p.m.
Joins the Chinese Merchants Association at a voter registration drive on Mott Street in Lower Manhattan.

1 p.m.
Marches in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day Parade, which runs along Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in Manhattan.

2:30 p.m.
Visits the Lee Family Association, a fraternal and social organization founded in Chinatown more than a century ago, on 41 Mott Street.

3:30 p.m.
Joins the Sikh Cultural Society in a voter registration drive in South Richmond Hill, Queens.

4:30 p.m.
Attends the seventh annual Arab American Bazaar along Shore Road in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

5:30 p.m.
Stops in at a reception for him at the Grand Restaurant in Flushing, Queens.

6:45 p.m.
Greets concertgoers at Celebrate Brooklyn! â€" featuring a live score to “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” by Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin and the Wordless Music Orchestra, at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn.

9:15 p.m.
Addresses First Haitian Church of the Brethren Congregation at Annual Revival, on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.

Joseph J. Lhota
Republican

12:30 p.m.
Attends Trump Village Community Day on West Fifth Street in Brooklyn.

2:30 p.m.
Attends the Steinway Street Festival in Astoria, Queens.

Christine C. Quinn
Democrat

12:30 p.m.
Together with Cathy Nolan, chairwoman of the State Assembly Education Committee, announces proposal to increase high school graduation rates and legally raise the age at which teenagers are allowed to end their formal schooling â€" to 18 from 17 â€" outside the Door, an organization that supports drop-outs and other at-risk youth, at 555 Broome Street in Manhattan.

Some of Ms. Quinn’s events may not be shown because the campaign declines to release her advance schedule for publication.

William C. Thompson Jr.
Democrat

8:30 a.m.
Builds up his strength at the annual Northern Manhattan Dominican Parade Breakfast with politicians including State Senator Adriano Espaillat; the Bronx borough president, Rubén Díaz Jr.; and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez at La Marina Restaurant in Upper Manhattan.

10:30 a.m.
Attends services at Bronx Christian Fellowship Church in Williamsbridge.

12 p.m.
Marches in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day Parade, which runs along Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in Manhattan.

Anthony D. Weiner
Democrat

10:30 a.m.
Addresses congregants at Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

11:15 a.m.
Addresses congregants at Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

12 p.m.
Addresses congregants at Emmanuel Baptist Church in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

1 p.m.
Marches in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day Parade, which runs along
Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in
Manhattan.

Sal F. Albanese
Democrat

11:20 a.m.
Another front just opened up in the trash wars rippling through this year’s mayoral race as the Rev. Erick J. Salgado and Mr. Albanese address community organizations and south Brooklyn residents who are rallying today in support of Assemblyman William Colton and his long-running fight to stop the city from putting in a waste-transfer station in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. A State Supreme Court judge dismissed Mr. Colton’s class-action lawsuit in May. But the lawmaker has appealed. Candidates who show up at today’s rally will be asked to declare a position and sign a pledge to fight against its construction, at the Bay Parkway Promenade in south Brooklyn. A similar stattion earmarked for Yorkville,on the Upper East Side, has been a huge bone of contention in the mayoral race, prompting one defender, Christine C. Quinn, to challenge its opponents to suggest alternative sites for the unwanted infrastructure roject.

2 p.m.
Greets voters at the Steinway Street Festival in Astoria, Queens.

4 p.m.
Greets voters at the Astoria Stroll on Shore Boulevard near Astoria Park in Queens.

Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Independent

9 a.m.
Attends a pre-parade Dominican-American breakfast at the New York Marriott Marquis on Broadway.

1:30 p.m.
Marches in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day Parade, which runs along
Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in
Manhattan.

Erick J. Salgado
Democrat

11 a.m.
Another front just opened up in the trash wars that are rippling through this year’s mayoral race as Sal F. Albanese and Mr. Salgado address community organizations and south Brooklyn residents who are rallying today in support of Assemblyman William Colton and his long-running fight to stop the city from putting in a waste-transfer station in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. A State Supreme Court judge dismissed Mr. Colton’s class-action lawsuit in May, but the lawmaker has appealed. Candidates who show up at today’s rally will be asked to declare a position and sign a pledge to fight against the statiion’s construction, planned for the Bay Parkway Promenade in south Brooklyn. A similar station scheduled for Yorkville, on the Upper East Side, has been a huge bone of contention in the mayoral race, prompting one defender, Christine C. Quinn, to challenge its opponents to suggest alternative sites for the unwante infrastructure project.

12 p.m.
Marches in the 32nd annual N.Y.C. Dominican Day Parade, which runs along
Avenue of the Americas from 36th Street to 52nd Street in
Manhattan.

Readers with information about events involving the mayoral candidates are invited to send details and suggestions for coverage to cowan@nytimes.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @cowannyt.