Welcome to Part II of II of our photo collection from the 14th Annual Bushwick Collective Block Party. This year’s edition, held on May 31, 2025, brought together a powerful fusion of beats, paint, and community spirit—just the kind of vibrant energy we at BSA love to celebrate.
Everybody’s proud of their neighborhood, and even though Bushwick continues to change, become more unaffordable, a little suburban, and sometimes feels like it is erasing the hardworking community that made it great, it takes a block party like this to remind you about what Bushwick is. Shout out to Joe and his family and team for incorporating the graffiti heads into the mix and allowing street art and graffiti to coexist in a way many predicted would be impossible; a truly unique collection of artists, styles, disciplines, inspirations, and themes.
New York is gearing up for a deep freeze from the weather and Donald Trump’s inauguration this weekend. With 100 Executive Orders reportedly queued up for him to sign, the forecast for the next four years includes ACA repeals, immigration crackdowns, Medicaid cuts, trade wars, inflation spikes, elimination of laws that corporations find restrictive, and civil rights rollbacks. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the timing feels bitterly ironic. But hey, maybe it’ll be sunshine and puppies, and everyone who is worried is just overreacting. “Poorer Voters Flocked to Trump,” said the Financial Times, so perhaps those petrified of the next four years are misreading the situation.
Regardless of the outcome over the coming years, we’ll be tracking the creative spirit on the street, and we are thankful for your support, as always.
Meanwhile, the polar vortex is set to bring approximately six inches of snow to New York City, followed by dangerously low temperatures with wind chills making it feel like -15°F. Interestingly, some graffiti writers will tell you that is the best time to get up on walls, because nobody is watching, but then perhaps you might lose feelings in your toes and fingers because of the cold?
The West Chelsea Arts Building in Manhattan, a longtime hub for artists and galleries, is on the market for $170 million, raising concerns about potential rent hikes or evictions for its 200 tenants. Over the years, notable artists like Ross Bleckner, Louise Fishman, and Hiroshi Sugimoto have called it home. Affordable studio space is essential to New York’s creative identity, yet rising costs make it increasingly difficult for emerging artists to thrive here. Imagine if the City prioritized supporting artist spaces instead of leaving culture at the mercy of the real estate market.
Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring Stikman, Homesick, ERRE, Cody James, Hops Art, BK Ackler, Denis Ouch, Jenna Morello, WGE, QUES, Real Wrek, Kyle, AKSone, and 974MC.
The conventions are done and dusted, and the candidates are locked in. Everyone’s got their pick: some are waving the Kamala flag, while others are riding the Trump train. But while the political stage is buzzing, the street art scene is still playing catch-up. The new Democratic contender hasn’t exactly made it onto many murals yet. But if you want to know how folks are really vibing, just check out the street portraits—artists are always a step ahead of the polls when it comes to capturing the public mood.
Here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring ERRE, Hops Art, BK Ackler, Hops1, Wane COD, PHD, DRIK, Mack Colours, Olig, Souls, No Name Stencil, RAIZE, Scottie Marsh, Ques, 718 Crew, and Wild Cat.
Superhero or superfan, there is something here for everyone, and usually high quality. Street Art festivals worldwide have become dull and safe, perhaps because some are funded by tax dollars or their curators lack vision. The selections at the Bushwick Collective may not make a cohesive story, it’s true.
However, a sense of history, respect for graffiti’s roots, community, narrative, and free-wheeling organic creativity cuts a through-line that still feels fresh as a summer breeze in the shade of a tree. We have so many images of this year’s block party celebration that we had to split the collection into two parts.
On this Summer Solstice, we wish you strength and the wisdom to see the truth. The false will fall away.
Spring is astoundingly colorful on the street in New York this year, with many new graffiti writers and street artists joining the existing throng and bringing their skills to a wall near you. At times, it appears now that we have as many artists as tourists in New York, but if they roll a suitcase, it is probably full of cans.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ron English, Homesick, Basquiat, Huetek, Biggie Smalls, Hops Art, Akira Toriyama, Blanca Romero, 2DX, Nike Kasio, Gouch NKC, Theme KED, Maximilian Romero, EA EO, Browine, Sintez One, FSG Park, and Jaek El Diablo.
It’s a new collection of works found on the street here in New York as we head into Thanksgiving week. The boisterous and celebratory party at Skewville in Bushwick last night to celebrate the new Stikman sign show was well attended and full of fans of the artist. The old fans and new donned Stikman masks and wore name stickers saying, “Hello, I’m Stikman.” The long-time imaginative artist is a fixture on New York streets as new generations of artists come and go. Completely anonymous, he never seeks the limelight, preferring to let his copious ideas on lampposts, doorways, mailboxes, and street signs talk for him. In an age of personal influencers and attention seeking, it is refreshing to see his new works quietly capturing attention and imagination on the streets in his way. Bushwick on a Saturday night is teaming with so many crowds of people you may think you are in Wynwood, Miami, complete with food trucks and neon and thigh-high patent leather boots. But the crowds are far more diverse, and the occasional rat is scurrying across the sidewalk before you.
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring City Kitty, Adam Fujita, Below Key, Eternal Possessions, Hektag, Hops Art, Aidz, Ali Six, Tkid170, Tracy 168, Hydrane, Otam1, Abloker, Nos Ck One, Madison Storm, Melissa Schainker, Wally, J$T, FatJay, Sens-Sational, Aaron Wrinkle, and 5inck.
Joe Ficalora and the Bushwick Collective crew took over the streets of Bushwick again this year to entertain the locals, the visitors, and everybody else with his annual block party. When you look at the variety and quality of murals produced on these streets regularly, you realize that it’s a splendid fusion that you rarely find in organized festivals.
Maybe it’s just us talking, but these artists are not usually hamstrung by organizers’ dictates or those of advertisers – they just let their imaginations go. Yes, there are still beefs, and there are battles between styles and histories and all the baggage that writers and artists carry. But in general, this is a somewhat mediated part of street culture, with an opportunity for you to shine if you have the skillz.
We published a handful of the completed walls on BSA HERE; now we bring you the rest…
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Abe Lincoln Jr., Adam Fujita, Alexcia Panay, Anthony Lister, Below Key, BK Foxx, Bobby Hundreds, Downer Jones, Dragon Art, Hops Art, Maia Lorian, Mastro NYC, Muebon, Pricey Alex, Shiro, Sinclair the Vandal, VKrone, and Want.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
