From the NY Times in 2001:

Maria Terrone was crossing 75th Street at 37th Avenue recently when she came across an arctic bird on a boulder. "It seemed kind of incongruous," she said. "Why is there a penguin in Jackson Heights? "

She figured the penguin, which is three feet tall and made of bronze, might have been placed there by the city's Parks Department because it was standing on a median newly planted with trees and shrubs. But there was no sign explaining its presence in the middle of a busy street.

As it turns out, a window from City Councilman John D. Sabini's office looks out onto the penguin. He was tired of seeing drivers whip U-turns across the street's low-rise concrete divider. So he asked the Parks Department, which has jurisdiction over a three-block stretch of the median between 37th Avenue and Broadway, to install a raised bed of plantings to beautify the area and keep drivers in line.

Parks complied. The bird was Commissioner Henry J. Stern's embellishment. He wanted an animal presence on the median but a species that would complement the neighborhood. He knew that many Argentine immigrants were in the area, so he picked the penguin, which is known to waddle pompously through the southern part of that country.

Mr. Stern had planned to install a flamingo sculpture on the other end of the three-block median, at 75th Street and Broadway, but feared that a car might mangle its slender leg. So he put in another penguin.

When told of the commissioner's reasoning, Mr. Sabini belly-laughed. "What was the flamingo for?" he asked. "To satisfy the local Floridians?"

Ms. Terrone worried that the water-loving penguins might have landed in a hostile clime. "There's not a lake or a pond in Jackson Heights," she said.

Snippets on the Investigation into Wink's Whereabouts

• NYC Parks Department Letter, from JacksonHeightsLife - February 15, 2009
  

I received this e-mail reply the other day:

Thank you for your recent inquiry about the statues at the Elm Jack Mall. Former Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern was fond of animal statues and decided that penguins would be a fitting addition to this Greenstreet/traffic island, given the large number of Argentinean immigrants living in the area.

One of the penguins was stolen a few years ago; we fear that the second one has met a similar fate, as it was not removed by Parks for any reason. There are no immediate plans to replace them, although we are aware of how beloved they were by the community.

We appreciate your concern. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Joanne Amagrande, Chief of Staff to the Queens Borough Commissioner, at 718 520 5938.

Sincerely,

Christine Wagner
Correspondence Liaison/Capital Projects
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation

• 115th Precinct Community Council Meeting - March 17, 2009 

At the March 17 115th Police Precinct Community Council meeting, Inspector John D. Lavelle, the precinct commander, was asked about the efforts NYPD had taken to locate and return Wink. Inspector Lavelle reported that they are aware of the problem and have been working on the theft: that local scrap shops and the  antiques stores have been contacted. But no trace of Wink has been found. (There is a shred of hope here, no one said, "Oh, yes the penguin, we melted him down last week.")

Asked if there was an stolen art database to which the theft could be reported,  Inspector Lavelle seemed interested in such an action. He also indicated that they were working with the Parks Department.

Other Wink Stuff

Photos From Flicker:

• Party Guy Wink
• Delighted Wink
• Wink Close-up 
• Through sun and heat...
• Wink with photographer's shadow
• Early Wink
  

From Elsewh­ere:

• Where's ­Wink - The Blog Post ­ 
• The "Where's Wink?" Flyer - (A .doc file to edit, print, and post.)