2. Shinran Shonin, the statue that survived the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima on the Upper West Side
When 150,000 people and nearly 90% of Hiroshima’s architecture were wiped out by the atomic bomb, this statue of Shinran Shonin miraculously survived. Shinran was the founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism in the 13th century. In 1955, the statue was brought to the United States and offered to the U.N. as a symbol of peace. When the U.N. declined due to a lack of space, Shinran was placed in front of the New York Buddhist Church at 105th Street and Riverside Drive. It remains there as a symbol of faith in the face of tragedy.
