The Great Sphinx of Willetts Point made its debut Tuesday morning as the latest work unveiled by the British street artist Banksy.
The three-foot-tall monument is standing guard outside a lot full of concrete blocks and cargo containers, its gaze fixed directly on the Mets’ Citi Field stadium about a block away.
And unlike Banksy’s other street-side works — most of which have been attacked by vandals — this one is surrounded by a 25-foot-wide moat of fetid water that’s more than an ankle deep, one of several large puddles along 127th Street.
“No turn unstoned. A 1/36 scale replica of the great Sphinx of Giza made from smashed cinderblocks,” Banksy wrote on his Web site around 11:05 a.m.
“You’re advised not to drink the replica Arab spring water.”
The base of the sculpture appears to have been built from junk littering the area, with the face made of cement.
Bernardo Veles, who owns a nearby auto-glass shop, said the the masonry material was still wet when he touched it around 7 a.m.
“When I left last night, just after 9, there was nothing. Â Just a big empty puddle,” said Veles, 27.
“At 6 this morning, my guys saw it and asked me what it was. Â There are no marks, no truck pulled into the water. Â Someone carried in the stone and built it piece by piece.”
“This place is empty at night, like a ghost town” he added.
“I am one of the last guys around and I leave at 8 or 9 every night. He must have done it in the middle of the night.”