The Gates were a group of gates comprising a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along of pathways in Central Park in New York City. From each gate hung a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric. The exhibit ran from February 12 through February 27, 2005. In the books and other memorabilia distributed by the artists, the project is called The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979–2005 in reference to the time that passed from the artists' initial proposal until they were able to go ahead with it. The Gates were greeted with mixed reactions. Some people loved them for brightening the bleak winter landscape and encouraging late-night pedestrian traffic in Central Park; others hated them, accusing them of defacing the landscape. It was seen as an obstruction to bicyclists, who felt that the gates could cause accidents, although cycling was not legal on those paths. The artists received a great deal of their nationwide fame as a frequent object of ridicule by David Letterman, as well as by Keith Olbermann, whose apartment was nearby. Fabrication Construction and cost According to the artists, the work used 5,390 tons of steel, 315,491 feet (96 km) of vinyl tubing, 99,155 square metres of fabric, and 15,000 sets of brackets and hardware. The textile was produced and sewn in Germany. The gates were assembled in a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) Long Island facility, then trucked to Central Park. As one of the conditions for use of the park space, the steel bases rested upon the walkways, but were unattached to them, so that no holes were drilled and no permanent changes were made to the park. The artists sold pieces of their own artwork, including preparatory drawings for The Gates, to finance the project. The artists said the project cost of $21 million. But Greg Allen and The New York Times attempted to itemize the costs and could account for about $5–10 million, given reasonable estimates for parts, labor, and costs related to the staffing of the installation. Installation Installation began on February 13, 2004. During the week of March 17, Central Park filled with workers using forklifts to move the rectangular steel plates into position. Small signs with alphanumeric codes along the park's walkways guided the placement of each piece. By April 10, most