On Friday (4/24), Rothy’s and MET- and MoMA-collected artist Willie Cole will transform Flatiron Plaza into a live public art installation built from 2,500 donated plastic water bottles.

Thesculpture will be assembled in real time by New Yorkers, turning everyday waste into a collective work of art.

The installation is free and open to the public: bring a single-use plastic bottle, drop it off, and receive a reusable bottle in exchange. Visitors can watch the sculpture take shape in real time and enjoy HOPE Hydration’s refill station.

The numbers tell the story: Americans discard 60 million plastic bottles every day, nearly 700 every second. The 2,500 bottles in Cole's sculpture would be gone from the waste stream in under four seconds.