3. The Statue at the Top of the Manhattan Municipal Building is the Third Tallest Figurative Sculpture in NYC

The image of Audrey Munson has been memorialized all over New York City, though few people know her name. Munson was a Gilded Age model, posing for illustrators, painters, and sculptors across the city, though she came to a tragic end. A golden, 25-foot tall rendering of Munson, called “Civic Fame,” stands atop the Municipal Building. The statue, the third tallest after the Statue of Liberty and the “Bellerophon Taming Pegasus” at Columbia Law School, holds a crown with five towers which represent the New York City boroughs.

Depictions of Munson can also be seen at the New York Public Library and the southwest entrance to Central Park. Unfortunately, Munson was committed to an institution for the insane at age 39 where she remained for 65 years until her death at age 104.