Georgetown professor ordered to remove Transformers statues from the entrance to his $3.7M townhouse

A Georgetown professor has been ordered to remove his beloved $25,000 Transformers statues from the entrance to his $3.75million townhouse after a two-year fight with annoyed neighbors. 

Newton Howard, 53, has two hawking statues of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime guarding the front door of his Prospect Street townhouse in Washington DC. He also has an additional Optimus Prime peering over the rooftop of his home. 

The cognitive scientist ordered the statues from Taiwan for more than $25,000 each and placed them outside his townhome in January 2021, according to The New York Times. 

Since their debut, the two Transformers have garnered lots of attention and are even a point of interest on Google, leading many to seek out Howard's home and stop to take photos next to the gigantic statues. 

Despite their popularity among tourists, many longtime Georgetown residents have not taken a liking to Bumblebee and Optimus Prime and have complained the bright metal statues ruin the historic feel of the neighborhood. 

Newton Howard, 53, has two hawking statues of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime guarding the front door of his Prospect Street townhouse in Washington DC. He also has an additional Optimus Prime peering over the rooftop of his home

The statues first appeared in January 2021 and have now been ordered to be removed 

After spending tens of thousands to keep the statues up, Howard went to the DC Public Spaces Committee - as the city has the final say - to protest the board's ruling. He even had voice actors perform the characters at the virtual meeting, advocating for themselves.

Despite his efforts, on May 25 he was told statues had to go again. If the professor does not remove them himself, the city will. 

'People have misunderstood the issue,' Howard's representative, Shadow Senator Paul Strauss, told the Times. 'You talk about compatibility with a historic district? Technically, these guys are millennia old. I mean, they’re prehistoric.' 

Howard plans to appeal the decision, but admitted that he was 'sad' due to the ruling. 

'I know what these Transformers mean to me,' the machine expert said. 'What does it mean to them?' 

Howard isn't the only one saddened to see the Transformers go - which are currently still standing on Prospect Street. Georgetown University student Jordynn Jenkins started a Change.org petition to keep the statues. 

'Neighbors, Georgetown University students and visitors remain in awe at the pieces,' Jenkins wrote. 'They bring a tangible vibrancy and happiness to those who come across them.' 

Georgetown residents have taken a disliking to the statues - which cost more than $25,000 each - saying it's a safety hazard and ruins the appeal of the historic district 

But the professor argues his snobby neighbors are making the neighborhood too exclusive. 'You don’t want to just come up with ways to shut down your neighborhood so nobody comes into it,' he said 

The young student said the board was 'censoring' Howard, as they continued to let others display 'flags, plants, and other accessories of their choice' outside their homes. 

The petition has garnered 956 signatures out of its goal of 1,000. 

'This is so dumb,' Hayden Gise, a member of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission - which offered to help Howard move the statues. 'Let him live, oh my God. Everyone loves property rights until some guy does something cool.' 

Part of the reason Howard is being forced to remove his statues is because he bypassed getting a permit. The professor needs a permit, as Georgetown has been marked historic and the sidewalk is considered public space, according to the Times. 

He also needed the Old Georgetown Board to approve of his changes, the outlet said. 

But Georgetown residents feared that bending the rules for one man would invite radicals to start doing the same. 

He plans on appealing the DC Public Spaces Committee ruling in hopes of keeping his statues, which garner a lot of tourists to the area 

'What’s to stop someone from putting up a statue of Joseph Stalin and saying, well, this is provocative, it’s art, it speaks to me?' former TV journalist and neighbor, Luke Russert, told the Times. 

'They are a nuisance, they are an eyesore, and they detract from the spirit of the neighborhood.' 

Tracy Thermak, a major critic of the statues, told DCist: 'With no permit… this is a safety issue. They have resulted in crowding, trash, bottlenecks, and pedestrians having to walk into the street.  This would set a dangerous precedent. If these are allowed to remain, nothing is off limits.' 

But the professor argues his neighbors are making the neighborhood too exclusive. 

'You don’t want to just come up with ways to shut down your neighborhood so nobody comes into it,' he told The New York Times. 

He called his statues the 'American idea,' as they brought visitors to the neighborhood. 

At the moment, the professor and his lawyer are reviewing a 'variety of legal options' and are looking for a 'better sense of whether reapplying with certain modifications may make some sense.'