A 6-ton potato took a tour of the Hudson River on Wednesday.
A red 10-wheel flatbed truck carrying a replica of a potato was loaded onto a barge which circled Manhattan early Wednesday morning.
Watch on #Periscope: The Big Idaho Potato in New York #nyc #newyork #boat https://t.co/aQJUElx5lx
— Big Idaho® Potato (@BigIdahoPotato) August 24, 2016
The potato truck belongs to the Idaho Potato Commission, a state agency dedicated to promoting the Idaho potato, and has been touring the country since 2012, according to the commission’s website.
The New York City tour is in celebration of the beginning of 2016's potato harvest in Idaho. Commission spokeswoman Sue Kennedy said the big potato was brought to the Big Apple as a thank you because New York consumes more potatoes than any other state.
The potato was built by a married couple in Idaho, Sharolyn and Chris Schofield. Its steel frame, concrete filling and fiber glass covering took one year to construct, said Kennedy.
If you want to catch a glimpse of the potato after its voyage through the harbor, you're out of luck. It will dock in a privately-owned Brooklyn shipyard later in the day and will not be accessible to the public because of logistical challenges.
