Vladimir Lenin sculpture rises again in East Village

A beloved statue of Vladimir Lenin has found a new home in the East Village.

Since 1989, an 18-foot statue of Lenin had presided over the rooftop of an East Village building known as Red Square. It was an anachronistic, cheeky tribute to the youthful, socially progressive neighborhood – made even funnier with the knowledge that Red Square is actually a market-rate rental building. But last fall, the statue was quietly removed after the building was sold to developer Dermot Company for $100 million.

Many thought that was the end for Lenin, with rumors that developer Michael Rosen — the former owner of Red Square — moved it to his private residence. That rumor now seems to have been half true.

The Soviet statue reappeared this week at 178 Norfolk Street, a building owned by Rosen, according to Bowery Boogie.

The statue was made in the USSR and was found by Rosen and Michael Shaoul “trashed in a backyard just outside Moscow and installed it five years later” in 1994. [BB] —Christopher Cameron