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Arts & Entertainment

'Project Springfield' Unveiled In Forest Hills.

Two-year endeavor ends with a 10-foot pixel art mural of the Simpsons' hometown.

There goes the neighborhood!

Homer, Bart and 164 other characters from The Simpsons checked into a Forest Hills living room on Saturday night. And they brought with them 54 locations over 40 city blocks from the long-running TV show.

At a launch party at his residence near Yellowstone Boulevard,  a 3D Pixel Art display that he had been working on for roughly two years.

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Named after the cartoon's hometown, McCoy created the 40-square-foot, multi-layered plastic canvas by lightly melting strategically placed Perler beads together with heat from an iron.

Frequent hangouts, such as Moe's Tavern and Springfield Elementary School, are there. So are less well-known spots like Sir Putt-a-Lot's mini-golf course and Barney's Bowl-A-Rama. The Duff Blimp hovers above.

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"I'm thrilled," said McCoy, 25, an Indiana native who works at Manhattan's Rhinelander Children's Center during the off-Project Springfield hours.

Before the unveiling, Peter Gerena, 30, admitted to having butterflies in his stomach. "It's amazing," he said. "The level of dedication. The size and scope. It's kind of inspiring."

Josh Bowman, who had trekked down from Toronto, explained that twenty- and thirty-somethings grew up watching The Simpsons, and they frequently reference phrases and characters from the show in their conversations. Like many others at the party, he had a favorite: Lisa, Bart's smart, idealistic, do-gooding little sister.

"She makes me think of my sister," he said.

Drew Beaver, McCoy's childhood friend, came up from Kentucky. Mr. Burns, the penny-pinching power plant proprietor, is his favorite character because he has "the funniest lines in the show."

After the unveiling, Beaver looked at the Burns figurine.

"Dead on," he said. "It's perfect."

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