New Banksys pop up across New York as old ones are scrubbed

The secretive street artist's newest works have been spotted in the Lower East Side and Williamsburg

Published October 5, 2013 10:00PM (EDT)

This article originally appeared on Hyperallergic.

Hyperallergic

It’s another day, and another Banksy in New York, as the secretive street artist has revealed a new series in three different locations, which his website labels as Lower East Side, Williamsburg, and Bushwick. Banksy’s NYC geography hasn’t always been accurate (damn, tourists!) so I’d take these labels with a grain of salt.

[UPDATE: We can now confirm that none of the new works are in Bushwick.] The supposed “Midtown” Banksy which popped up two days ago is actually in Chelsea (24th Street and Sixth Avenue), and the “Westside” Banksy is also in Chelsea (25th and Tenth Avenue). The latest series, according to Banksy’s website, is Random graffiti given a Broadway makeover (an ongoing series). It’s clever though, yet again, if I saw this on the street I don’t think it would be very clear that it was distinctively Banksy.

The Chelsea Banksy being "restored" by some man with an American accent at roughly midnight last night. (top photo courtesy Anna Torras, and bottom photos by Hrag Vartanian for Hyperallergic, left 8:15pm Thurs, right 12:30am Fri)

The Chelsea Banksy being “restored” by Perry Levy at roughly midnight last night. (top photo courtesy Anna Torras, and bottom photos by Hrag Vartanian for Hyperallergic, left 8:15pm Thurs, right 12:30am Fri)

But another interesting thing happened last night, as I traveled around to the various Banksy’s already up (or buffed) and discovered something interesting. Not only had two of the three known Banksys been “restored” by the same person (photo evidence posted here suggests as much) but that each work had a group of people hanging around eager to chat, share theories of Banksy’s possible identity, and guesses as to where the next work will pop up. It was a jovial atmosphere and everyone I spoke to on the street wanted to know more.

Only the Banksy on Allen Street (north of Canal) remained “unrestored.” People are calling this mysterious man the “Banksy Restoration Society,” and Animal has more visual evidence of his work yesterday on the Chelsea East Banksy and they identified him as Perry Levy, a “sound designer and mixer from Brooklyn.”

(photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

(photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Location, location, location … want to know where today’s Banksy’s are? This is what we’ve been able to find out from various sources (we’ll update it when we find more info):

  • “Playground Mob” is on the Lower East Side (Delancey and Bowery)
  • “Occupy” is in Williamsburg (Bushwick and Scholes or Broadway and Hewes, we’re trying to confirm which)
  • “Dirty Underwear” is in East Williamsburg (208 Bushwick Avenue)

By Hrag Vartanian

MORE FROM Hrag Vartanian


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Banksy Chelsea Graffitti Hyperallergic Lower East Side Manhattan Street Art