Photograph by Joe Reginella

A new bronze statue, pedestal, and plaque have been erected at New York’s Battery Park, memorializing the six crew of the harbor tug Maria 120 who mysteriously vanished during the New York City blackout of 1977. Some believe that the sailors were abducted by a UFO. The statue is of a tug crewman gazing up at what can be presumed to be an alien spacecraft as an extraterrestrial figure lays at his feet

Do you recall this bit of forgotten history? Probably not, as it never happened. Nevertheless, the plaque and monument are quite real, as is the website, NYC UFO Tugboat Abduction, subtitled, “Learn the Truth about New York’s UFO Cover-Up.” There is also a Youtube video and an on-line gift shop. Of course, it is all a spoof, the most recent latest public art piece from Staten Island-based sculptor Joe Reginella.

Reginella’s previous works include a monument to the tragic sinking of the Staten Island Steam Ferry Cornelius G. Kolffan after being attacked by a giant octopus on November 22, 1963. Another unforgettable tragedy which didn’t happen but was memorialized by Joe Reginella.

And who could forget the Brooklyn Bridge Elephant Stampede of October 24, 1929? A Joe Reginella sculpture honors the fictional stampede.

While I appreciate the humor in Reginella’s sculptural satires, my only concern in these times when facts have such fluidity, that some, indeed many, might not get the joke.