News The public artwork celebrates the literary legacy of the city's storied "Little Syria."

April 30, 2026 — 3 min read

Sara Ouhaddou in front of her new monument “Al Qalam (The Pen): Poets in the Park” in Manhattan's Financial District (photo Hrag Vartanian/ Hyperallergic )

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration unveiled its very first commemorative public artwork on Thursday, April 30, in recognition of Manhattan’s first Arabic-speaking enclave, “Little Syria.”

“Al Qalam (The Pen): Poets in the Park,” a mosaic installation and sculpture created by French-Moroccan artist Sara Ouhaddou over the past decade, honors nine members of the neighborhood’s once flourishing literary community. Among the most recognizable figures named in the work is Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran, who co-founded the neighborhood's local writers’ association, Pen Bond ( al Rabitah al Qalamiyyah ), in 1920.

Situated in the Financial District’s Elizabeth H.…