Grand piano mysteriously appears on sandbar in Biscayne Bay

Phil513

Kick Henry Jackassowski
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Grand piano mysteriously appears on sandbar in Biscayne Bay

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Here's a mystery that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "piano bar."

A grand piano recently appeared on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay, about 200 yards from the Quayside condominiums off Northeast 107th Street. Whoever put it there placed it at the highest point of the sandbar so that it's not underwater during high tide.

How and why the piano got there is a mystery. A grand piano weighs at least 650 pounds and is unwieldly to move, said Bob Shapiro, a salesman at Piano Music Center in Pembroke Park. "You don't take it out there in a rowboat," Shapiro said.

This much is clear, however: The piano isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Unless it becomes a danger to wildlife or boaters, authorities have no plans to haul it away.

"We are not responsible for removing such items," said Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Even a car can become a habitat for wildlife. Unless the item becomes a navigational hazard, the Coast Guard would not get involved."

The marine patrols of both the North Miami Police Department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the same thing.

From Quayside, the shape of the piano is visible to the naked eye, but with a pair of binoculars or a telephoto lense, seagulls can be seen landing on the instrument and water lapping at its legs.

Throwing away a grand piano may seem like a waste of money, but it may not be. In decent condition, a used grand piano would cost at least $3,000 to $4,000. But many pianos wear out from the literally tons of pressure on the internal parts. Cheaper models aren't worth the cost of rebuilding.

"It could be worth nothing," Shapiro said. "Pianos don't grow old gracefully. They just wear out."
 
That would make some amazing photo opportunities for someone with a row boat. Get somebody out there to sit in a tux or something and 'play' it. So many options.
 
What an album cover that would make if they got someone sitting out there.
 
Wow man, that is a trip. That had to be a real pain in the ass to get that there. Very funny though :thu:
 
Damn thing was taking up space in the parlor of my yacht and just wouldn't frickin' stay in tune. Musta been the humidity. Over she goes.
 
Looks like the mystery is solved...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/27/mystery.piano/index.html?iref=NS1

(CNN) -- Authorities have no immediate plans to charge the teenager who admitted to hauling a piano out onto a sandbar in Biscayne Bay in south Florida.

Luis Espinoza, spokesman for Miami-Dade County's Department of Environmental Resources Management, told CNN his agency is hoping to coordinate with the family to have the piano removed.

"We're trying to work with them, contact them and ask them to please go out there and do the right thing," Espinoza told CNN Thursday.

"Obviously, they created a situation by dumping debris. This could be a felony."

As of Thursday morning, when Espinoza spoke with CNN, his department had not yet heard back from the family, he said.

Nicholas Harrington, 16, told CNN affiliate WPLG that he was behind the mystery, with a little help from his friends.

"I liked the idea of an anonymous piano out there, no explanation to it," he said, adding that he viewed it as art for a portfolio in a future college application.

Harrington shared with the station home video from before the holidays, when he and his father moved the grand piano from his grandmother's house to his, on a boat.

Weeks later, after purposely setting the piano on fire at a party, he, his father, and two of his friends decided to place it out on the sandbar, WPLG reported. "It was a solid surface. It wouldn't float away," Harrington told the station.

The Interscholastic Sailing Association website lists Harrington as a sailing team captain at his high school, the Maritime and Science Technology Academy.

Harrington said he decided to come forward after someone else claimed responsibility for placing the piano on the sandbar. William Yeager said he is a filmmaker with a "controversial" film trilogy coming out, and that he and a fellow filmmaker have placed pianos in various cities.
 
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