The Jersey teardrop: Tsereteli's efforts to export his vision to the United States have been less successful. A massive statue of Christopher Columbus was rejected by five American cities before being shipped to Puerto Rico, where it still sits unassembled. In 2004, Tsereteli built a 10-story monument to the victims of the September 11 attacks, consisting of a titanium teardrop encased in bronze that continually drips water. The structure, intended as a gift from Russia to the United States, was at first gratefully accepted by the local government of Jersey City, but then rejected once city officials actually saw it. It was eventually unveiled in nearby Bayonne, and widely panned by locals, with one 9/11 survivor describing it as "'a cross between a scar and a female sexual organ."
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