The New York Times has an odd gimmick of a story today about the unfinished Richard Serra sculpture the paper is shocked to discover being stored outside in the Bronx. The story doesn’t make clear where the Times expects several tons of steel to be stored but the thrust of the story is simple shock of seeing work outside of its heroic context.

Art storage is big business in New York, and there are expansive spaces in places like the Brooklyn Navy Yard. But the art is generally stored inside — not in a lot where cranes are parked.

Bloggers and intrepid photographers have discovered the Serra piece in the unlikely storage spot and published the results of their explorations online. In 2006, artists sneaked into the site and covered the piece with magnets as part of a project titled “Invisible Graffiti.”

Nathan Kensinger, a photographer, stumbled upon the Serra piece in February 2009 and managed to walk among its spirals. “I’ve come across a lot of surprising, abandoned things in New York City, but never before a Richard Serra piece that’s worth millions of dollars,” he said in an interview.

Richard Serra Sculpture Rusts in Bronx Yard (New York Times)