Field of Light Now Glows on East Side Building Site Where Soloviev Hopes to Build a Casino

A 6.9 acre field on the East Side of Manhattan that has sat vacant since a developer bought it from Con Edison 23 years ago has been transformed into a Field of Light featuring over 18,000 individual bulbs glowing in a display that soothes the eye. Soloviev Properties, funder of the show and owner of the lot, hopes one day to build a casino, and 1,300 housing units on the site.

For the moment, the field is now the latest installation by British artist Bruce Munro. It opened to the public on the evening of Dec. 15th. Its creators say it is the largest exhibition in a public space since Cristo’s The Gates mesmerized visitors to Central Park in Feb. 2005.

Unlike many pop up destinations, the Field of Light at what is being called Freedom Plaza will be operable for an entire year, while the real estate developer waits to find out if he will eventually be able to get one of the three coveted downstate casino licenses that will be awarded in the metro area possibly sometime next year. If they get the license, Soloviev has promised 1,325 apartment units in the neighborhood, 40 percent of which will be permanently below market-rate rent and aimed at providing middle class housing.

Plans have changed dramatically in the 23 years since the current developer’s father took title to what is the largest undeveloped acreage on the East Side of Manhattan. The late Sheldon Solow paid $630 million to buy the former Con Ed substation in 2000 and his company spent $100 million dismantling the shut down coal powered steam plant and decontaminating the site.

At one point, Solow had an ambitious $4 billion plan to erect seven towers stretching from 41st St. to 35th St. The plan included building a brand new elementary and middle school for the DOE, recreational spaces open to the public and a pedestrian bridge that was meant to allow the public to reach parkland along the East River. The recession in 2008 derailed those plans. The real estate site Curbed began calling the vacant lot the “East Side mud pit”.

As plans stalled, the southernmost portion of what was originally a nine acre site was sold to JDS Development for $127 million in 2013. JDS eventually erected the American Copper Building on the 2+ acres.

All the while Soloviev’s plan went through several iterations, lowering the size on both the single proposed office tower and a larger residential tower after running into a firestorm of local opposition.

Sheldon Solow, a multi-billionaire, at the time of his death in 2020 had already turned the company and its vast real estate holdings over to his son Stefan Soloviev who used the traditional spelling of his family’s name.

Meanwhile, Bruce Munro, who estimates he has done between 20 to 30 fields of light around the world said he always wanted to do one in New York. Munro’s installation has graced, in different forms and sizes, the faces of some grand places around the globe: The Eden Project in Cornwall, England, the Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona, and Uluru or Ayers Rock in Australia, where Munro first got the bright idea which launched him into international recognition. Munro is very grateful to Soloviev for cutting through all the red tape bringing his show to New York. “ It’s always a risk from their point of view. They deserve a lot of credit.” he says.

The original Field of Light began in 1992 as an idea, a sudden wave of energy, while camping in the desert at Uluru with his wife Serena in the northern territories of Australia 1,000 miles away from the nearest town. He created his first field of light that “bloomed” every night.

“The desert landscape made me feel both joyful, and connected to the world around me,” Munro said on the VIP opening night of his installation on Dec. 13.

He carried with him that Australian energy for twelve years until he finally got it out of his mind and onto his backyard to the absolute shock of his wife who had moved with him to Australia in the 90s. Since then the Field of Light installation has been a continuous success.

At Freedom Plaza, to the south of the UN headquarters Munro’s work is nestled between First Ave and the FDR Drive. To view it up close, head east off of First Ave down E 41st, to a metal stairway. Guards with Field of Light printed onto their jackets will direct you towards the show. Down the ramp, through a large white tent and onto the plantation of lightbulbs. The public is allowed to explore freely on the path through the old East Side “mud pit” now with pleasing pedestrian pathways through the lights.

Soloviev CEO Micheal Hershman and chairman Stefan Soloviev along with his family were present at the VIP opening night where Tracy Strann of Eventique, the event planner for this installation, gave the first speech of the night after the string quartet stopped playing and the waiters stopped serving their cocktails and gourmet snacks. Until then, that night, the lights were not yet lit.

After Strann’s monologue Stefan Soloviev himself, calmly thanked Munro, and the caterers, and the vineyard that donated wine to the opening night, and he expressed his wish for this show to bring joy.

Munro took the stage and emotionally told the story of the birth of his Field and expressed the same wish as Mr. Soloviev, to bring nothing but happiness.

Finally, Michael Hershman, the CEO of Soloviev addressed the gambling elephant in the room by giving a big thanks to the Chairman of the NYS Gaming Commission, Brian O’Dwyer. Hershman added, “Of course there is no connection between his work, and what’s being done here tonight; although there may be a nexus in the future.” The audience chuckled.

When Hershman was done Stefan Soloviev retook the stage and finally flipped the switch, illuminating the 17,600 dandelion candles on the Field of Light to bring a bit of feeling to the people there that night.

“It is incredibly humbling to watch Freedom Plaza come to life with such purpose and enthusiasm,” said Munro.