A mysterious artist, who shall remain nameless despite my privileged access to this information, placed this very tall bench on the traffic island at Houston and Suffolk.  Almost immediately, probably within hours, the Department of Transportation seized it and placed a note to the "owner."   Image and letter posted below.

Only in New York (note to NYMag: another reason to love this city) can an artist and the DOT have an open dialogue to which the entire public is privy.  Kudos to the artists for pulling this off, amassing some press, and receiving a personal love letter from the Department.