The sidewalks sizzle and the city purrs with heat and hustle. It’s your daily movie out here.
July is in full swing, and the summer nights are a little looser around the edges between important holidays and commitments. At MoMA, the Friday crowds are drifting through galleries to the low thump of downtown DJs tucked into corners of the atrium—spinning ambient loops, soulful edits, and the occasional dance-floor memory into the marble echo chamber. Outside, the sculpture garden murmurs with art talk… and a sort of slow-motion flirtation.
The NYC mayoral race is, in its way, a kind of performance art—though less conceptual than cynical – with people from every crevice finding fault and stirring fear about the presumptive winner, Mandami. With prices everywhere still climbing, the city’s rhetoric is starting to sound like an old podcast that you thought was deleted. Yak yak yak. On the national stage, the Trump saga soldiers on—ever orbiting a surreal mix of court filings, celebrity fallout, international threats, hatchet budget cuts, and the ever-present Epstein shadows. With this constant drone of chaos, much of this is no longer shocking, just strangely ambient, a screensaver cycle. Ignore these proceedings at your peril.
On the walls and rooftops, there’s a different story unfolding. Some have observed that graffiti writers whose names once seemed fossilized in memory or confined to old flicks and zines—have been spotted again, dropping clean throwies and sharp tags on buffed surfaces from Bushwick to the Bowery. You’ll be biking past an auto-body shop or abandoned roll gate and do a double-take: Was that fresh?
The sun bounces off chrome and scaffolding, and somewhere near Broadway and Broome, you catch yourself squinting up at a cast-iron cornice—gargoyles crouched in cool shadows. Is that a cherub? Is it… flipping you off? Perhaps it’s just the heat, or the cumulative effect of too many hateful headlines. Don’t stop. Rooftops beckon, turntables whirl, community gardens bustle. It’s not utopia. But it’s yours.
Here’s a glimpse of NYC graffiti, street art, and murals captured in Red Hook, Gowanus, Bushwick…in this week’s survey, including Chris RWK, DeGrupo, Espo, EXR, Humble, Ian Cinco, John Echo, Manuel Alejandro, Mdot, MSK Kings, Qzar, Red Rum, Rime, Sharpy, Tess, and Zimer.
NYC’s 55th annual Pride March down 5th Avenue kicks off today, themed “Rise Up: Pride in Protest,” taking on a decidedly defiant stance on equality for all. Suppose you are in the subway, dance club, or park in Bushwick, Chinatown, or midtown. Like every June, it’s a lavender parade all weekend, with all members of the LGBTQUA+ communities from around the country and the world laughing, dancing, fighting, posing, and canoodling.
Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani clinched the Democratic nomination here this week after defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, possibly igniting a polarized reaction across NYC politics. Hm, wonder if anyone will mention his religion in the next few months. What do you think? But, de facto, he’s going to be the next mayor – unless Bloomberg wants to blow more money before the November election.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Andre Trenier, Dirt Cobain, Drones, Dzel, Fear Art, Jappy Agoncillo, Jason Naylor, Jeff Rose, Kam S. Art, Manik, Modomatic, Par, Riot, Senisa, Tom Bob, Werds, and Zimer.
The George Floyd mural at Elgin and Ennis in Houston’s Third Ward has been quietly demolished — a move that caught many off guard, especially as the fifth anniversary of his death approached. More than a painting on a wall in the margins of the city, it was a community’s act of remembrance, a public reckoning, and a visual anchor for a moment when the country seemed to shift. To awaken.
And yet, here we are. Five years later, and it’s hard to say what lasting change took root. In some camps, being ‘woke’ is a pejorative, and going back to sleep is encouraged. The arc of justice bends, but it bends slowly. Or maybe it bends into circles.
Meanwhile in New York, a Banksy mural on a six-ton wall hit the auction block and… nothing. Not a single bid. Cue speculation: are we finally past the Banksy-buoyed street art boom that’s defined the last two decades? Or was the opening price just too steep? Maybe the rollout was sloppy. Maybe it was the economy. Whatever the reason, the silence in the salesroom is rare — and could signal a shift in the so-called urban contemporary art market.
And yet, the Banksy machine rolls on. At this point, there may be more Banksy museums than Starbucks — none sanctioned by the artist, of course, but still packing in the crowds. There’s The Banksy Museum in NYC, The World of Banksy in Paris, Museu Banksy in Barcelona and Madrid, and the touring Art of Banksy show, rolling through Jakarta, Melbourne, and Vancouver. It’s a brand now — maybe not quite as big as Mickey Mouse, but it’s definitely what cultural tourists reach for when they want a little edge with their museum day. What this says about the artist, the audience, or the architecture of commodified rebellion… you draw your own conclusions.
So here’s some of this week’s visual conversation from the street, including works from Shin, Crash One, GO, Ham, Hasp, Homesick, IMK, Jeff Henriquez, Mike King, Nela, Piggie the Pig, Queen Andrea, Stesi, Wetiko, Wild West, and Zimer.
In New York and Miami and across the U.S., stories of legitimate struggles with the healthcare system are a constant backdrop to everyday life. Someone you met can’t afford insurance. Someone else is battling their insurer to approve a critical procedure. Surprise medical bills arrive for your girlfriend without warning. Your coworker avoids the doctor altogether because the costs are prohibitive. Teachers face medical bankruptcy, parents delay surgeries, and families turn to GoFundMe campaigns to defray crippling medical costs not covered. Meanwhile, seniors ration medication, cutting pills in half to make them last. It’s a system where multi-billion-dollar corporations, shielded by their (paid) influence over government, operate with impunity, leaving the sick ill-equipped to challenge them.
This backdrop of frustration likely fueled the sharp sarcasm and bitterness that erupted in conversations on social media and on the street after the UnitedHealthcare CEO was shot and killed on a Manhattan sidewalk this week. A young man in a hoodie fled the scene on a bicycle. Hundreds, no, thousands of responses on platforms like Twitter included jabs such as, “My empathy is out of network” and “Thoughts and prior authorizations.” UnitedHealthcare’s Facebook page was inundated with thousands of comments mocking the company’s public statement of sorrow. Many appeared to post pictures of family members or rejection notices they received from United Healthcare, their addresses blacked out.
To be clear, ‘denial of care’ is not just a business or policy practice; it is a systematic design rooted in contempt for people. These practices profoundly impact millions of people, possibly you and your family.
Now, five days later, the FBI joined the NYPD search for the suspect, who is believed to have left New York. Yet in laundromats, bars, and online forums, some people quietly invoke phrases like “snitches get stitches,” a colloquialism from hip-hop culture discouraging cooperation with law enforcement.
Critics in the media have rightly denounced the ethics of vigilante justice. At its core, vigilantism threatens to unravel societal order. Yet, so does a society that lets a profit-driven industry determine which sick lives are worth saving. The bitter truth is that for many, the system already feels unraveled.
Miami, we love you. This week was great at Wynwood Walls and Museum of Graffiti, and in the streets of Wynwood. The new STRAAT Catalogue is shipping on Christmas – and our Editor in Chief is one of the authors along with great folks like Carlo McCormick, Christian Omodeo, and Charlotte Pyatt. Most importantly, we cannot tell you how much we enjoyed meeting BSA readers and receiving your feedback and support. There are so many talented, creative, brilliant minds on this trip, and we like meeting each and every one. Don’t be shy! Thank you sincerely.
Shout out to our hosts at MOG Alan Ket and Allison Frieden, to David Roos from STRAAT, and to artists Nina Falkhoff, and HOXXOH.
Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week in New York and Miami, featuring: Retna, Adele Renault, Inkie, Werds, Pez, Astro, HOXXOH, Zimer, Kern, 1457 Wave, Juju the Frog, Trek86, Ishmael Book Art, Shey Lunatic, KTAN086, Code-E, and Z. Veiz.
Aunt Marge is on the phone to see if your mom can locate the recipe for the cranberry relish dish that she made last year – the one with the grapefruit and fresh ginger. While you’re talking to her she reports that your quirky cousin Kinnisha has just announced that she is a vegan so she won’t be eating any animal products at Thanksgiving this Thursday. Not a big surprise.
We’re making sweet potatoes with marshmallows melted on top; what are you bringing? Don’t forget that dinner is at 12 noon this year because Juan and Erica and their new baby have to go to his parents for a second Thanksgiving dinner at 4 pm – and that’s all the way in Jersey.
Speaking of food, the jokes write themselves sometimes in the headlines this week – Just as the President-Elect says that he’ll announce a state of emergency to boot out illegal immigrants, bottom-line-conscious Americans who are already stretched too thin financially are learning how this action may impact prices at the store and across the economy.
Some folks are concerned that raising tariffs will cause companies to cancel Christmas bonuses because they need to buy up supplies before tariffs hit – which doesn’t sound very Christmassy. Nor does Walmart’s announcement this week that they may need to raise prices if those tariffs happen in the new year.
Aren’t you supposed to wait until your candidate has been sworn into office before having buyer’s remorse?
Also, according to conversations on Twitter this week, many folks didn’t realize that the evil Obamacare is the same thing as their prized ACA health insurance. Huh. Who knew?
Meanwhile in New York we are excitedly looking for newly financed housing thanks to the Mayor, and the NYC Documentary Festival had great screenings this week: One that examines our city’s 1970s chaotic bankruptcy and corruption called Drop Dead City(spoiler; the city had no accounting books), and one called Slumlord Millionaire. New York is always a love/hate romance, no?
Meanwhile, the current president is giving ‘permission’ to Ukraine to use long-range weapons deep into Russian territory. Great way to kick off a legacy before you leave office! What could go wrong?
This week, we’ll ignore all that when we line the streets for the Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade through Manhattan. Hope its not too windy for those massive balloons and that Santa shows up at the end of the show! Also, keep your eyes open for hot, blushing babes in ribbed turtlenecks and Santa hats on streets, subways, Knicks games at the Garden, on the skating rinks in Central Park, Bryant Park, and Rockefeller Center. Something about the holidays melts hearts, even though it’s freezing outside. Wishing you all the best – stay safe and warm, say hi to Aunt Marge for us, and keep your eyes open for stupendous street art and graffiti.
Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring: John Ahearn, Atomik, Cody James, Great Boxers, Carnivorous Flora, Alex Face, Felipe Umbral, LeCrue Eyebrows, Zimer NYC, Julia Cocuzza, JKE, Fern El Pepe, and Katya Gotseva.
64% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, China and Russia are buddying up, BRICs countries are looking for new members, and the Bankers in your life are again looking toward their gilded escape bunkers.
We are transfixed by the first indicted US president, and gloating about having a system of democracy and justice. Now he is positioning himself as an “outsider,” a martyr. A billionaire outsider. We’re just waiting for these crowds outside Trump Tower to materialize. Where are they? Honestly, Fifth Avenue is more interested in the Easter Bonnet Parade that is coming.
But it’s a circus on the national tabloid news, which is unfortunately all of the news now. Our best minds are being entertained by 24 hour sports channels, Netflix and Tic Toc, and it’s not an accident. People are chided into fighting each other over trans-woke-snowflake-abortion-race-laptop-AR15-centered-drag-readings. Look! A squirrel!
Meanwhile, the daffodils are blooming everywhere in anticipation of Easter Week. People were cramming subways, buses, and sidewalks yesterday because of the warm sunny spring weather – and Smorgasborg opened this weekend in Brooklyn. NYTimes calls it “the Woodstock of eating,” due to its variety of incredible food choices – but of course, you can have just as much fun with a bag of chips or a slice of pizza sitting on a stoop watching the parade of New Yorkers march/sashay/stride by.
We had a great time at the Bronx Museum yesterday, catching the John Ahearn/ Rigoberto Torres retrospective and seeing both the artists in person during a panel discussion with artist Abigail DeVille – with fans rushing the stage for an autographed exhibition book afterward. These guys have championed everyday New Yorkers through their painted sculptures for four decades. It is revelatory and heartwarming to see this very large collection of works never shown together before. Make sure to check out “Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits” until April 30.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Stikman, Zimer, Subway Doodle, A Lucky Rabbit, Qzar, Optimo NYC, Sekt, AMMO, CEYNYC, Toeflop, Early Riser NYC, Julia Cocuzza, and Miki Mu.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
