Flowers In Full Bloom On Varick Street In West Soho

Flowers from an unknown artist bloom on the edge of an empty lot on Varick Street in West Soho. Can anyone identify the artist?

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Kanye West Unimpressed With Graffiti

Seen near Union Square, Kanye West throws a gauntlet at graffiti writers:

Yo I'm really happy for your and Imma let you finish but uh...what you're doing is graffiti writing. Every five year old with a sense of awareness has mastered he art of writing his/her name. So start using your talent for street art. Like this kid did.

Previously:

• Twitter Bird Taunts Soho Residents
• The Hidden Graffiti Of Chinatown
• Lovestruck Graffiti Sprouts All Over Chinatown In Lower East Side
  
• NYPD Admires Freshly Bombed Deitch Wall By Barry McGee And Co.
• Summer Of Jim Joe
• Clowning Around On Chelsea

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Jay Shells Installs Unauthorized Mural In West Village

Jay Shells, well known for his artists campaign against errant dog sh*t, installed a massive mural this past Saturday on a burned up building at west 10th Street and Greenwich Avenue which "has been a real eye sore in the neighborhood for over a year," he told NYC The Blog. 

Shells and Benjamin Hollingsworth painted the mural in South Carolina a few months ago and shipped it to New York City for a show at Gallery Bar. When it failed to sell, they both decided to "'donate' it to the public."

"Not sure how long it will last," he wrote, "but it looks great!" Agreed.

UPDATE: Eater reports we can expect a new restaurant here very shortly.

(A previous version of the headline described the mural as "Massive," which was not the best description and implied something huge, larger than a large mural, which all murals tend to be! I immediately disliked the description, but did not remove it until it bothered me for a whole week.)

Previously:

• Artist Jay Shells Visits Washington Heights: Dogs Owners On Notice
• Twitter Bird Taunts Soho Residents
• IM Pi The Considerate Cartographer Breaks His Silence
• Jim Joe: One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Living Room

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Mike Wolf/NYC The Blog

Twitter Bird Taunts Soho Residents

The Twitter bird strikes again! And this time it seems to be taunting all those women laughing alone eating salad, or in this case, patrons who have just left Once Upon a Tart in Soho on Sullivan Street north of Prince Street, where this bird was spotted out front situated in a tree. See the one spotted this summer on Mott Street, below.

IM Pi The Considerate Cartographer Breaks His Silence

Do you remember the "considerate cartographer" who stenciled compasses outside subway stations all over Manhattan this summer? Recently, someone going by the name of IM Pi and claiming to be the artist reached out to NYC The Blog through an intermediary, offering more information about the project. Though both seemed unnecessarily evasive and mysterious, sometimes annoyingly so, NYCTB was able to get some questions answered.

Jay Shells Poop Poster Installation On Video

Yesterday you saw two photos of a new Jay Shells poster installed on 173rd Street at Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights, reminding dog owners to pick up after their dog. You might've even read about it in the NY Daily News. Now, watch video of that installation below.

Artist Jay Shells Visits Washington Heights: Dogs Owners On Notice

Artist Jay Shells, maybe better known as the man behind the 'subway etiquette' project, has undertaken a new campaign targeting dog poop, installing large, colorful, hand-painted posters street side, reminding people to "clean up after your dog!"

Last night, Shells went up to 173rd Street, on the corner of Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights, to shape up dog owners in the area. He explained his decision to visit Wahi at the suggestion of Gothamist commenters, who requested their own display after Gothamist featured the original dog poop poster installed on 14th Street. Posters now reside on 14th Street, 173rd Street and 1st Avenue between 4th and 5th streets.

In addition to an admonition to clean up after your dog, plastic baggies (bio-degradable!) are available from an attached roll to help make the poo-poo pickup more convenient.

New York City's Sh*t and Piss War rages on. Whose side are you on?

Shells told NYC The Blog his next stop will be Bed-Stuy. See last nights finished product below.

Jim Joe: One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Living Room

Jim Joe on Grand Street in Little Italy.

See more Jim Joe on NYCTB's Facebook.

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Sleep - New Russell King On Elizabeth Street

New Russell King, on the west side of Elizabeth Street, north of Kenmare.

Previous: Pretension

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Turning Empty (And Illegal?) Ad Space Into Pop Up Parks In Four Easy Steps

Summertime in New York City means a lot things. Mister Softee; Legs; Fourth of July; Hanging out in the park. It also means time to get your planting on. As seen here in the photos taken last night on the corner of Spring and Lafayette, the numerous white, empty advertising boards at street level—many illegal and now empty due to recent enforcement actions by the DOB—make perfect pop up parks; green graffiti if you will.

Follow the four easy steps below, as shown in the photos, to create your own pop up wall gardens on street level (illegal?) ad space.

Cooper Union Seesaw No Longer Fit To See Or Saw

The seesaw cleverly installed on an bike rack in front of Cooper Union has succumbed to wear and tear, or maybe outright vandalism from a cyclist who did not think kindly to losing a place to lock his bike. If that was the case, he or she might want to get in touch with the NYC DOT City Racks program, which provides free bike racks by request from residents and property owners alike.

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Lost Duck? Call Mr. Brainwash AKA Douchewash

These yellow flyers have been posted all over SoHo, the East Village and neighboring streets last week (see: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). The series above, however, has been altered and offer clues to whomever is looking for a lost duck. (Click through for larger version). One message directs you to call "Mr. Brainwash AKA Douchewash," and the other two leave names and phone numbers. Those are your leads. You can skip Steve's number, area code 431. That area code does not exist.

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Public Art: Lonely Hearts Club

Just north of Great Jones Street, on of the east side Lafayette, the fully bombed wood, truck cut-out seen above, was newly affixed to the building abutting Edison Parking. Under the watchful eye of security, the accurate representation of a New York City box truck now keeps company with a previously lonely heart, which had been holding court there solo. (Click through for larger version).

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credits: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Stenciled Compass Project Expands To Most Subway Lines

An unknown street cartographer recently began stenciling directional compasses along the Lexington Avenue 6 line for the directionally disoriented. And now the considerate cartographer has apparently expanded the project to include as many subway lines as possible. Over the weekend, compasses were noticed on the 123 line at Houston and Varick, and on the BDFV line somewhere at 2nd Ave! Stations at the 6 line, the 123 line, the FV and NRW now all have stenciled compasses.

What's more, members of Reddit have discovered the project, and have noted other stencils at varying locations. In addition to the lines spotted above, they have seen on the L train line and at the 14th Street Path station.

Sidewalk Graffiti Provides Navigational Assistance For Subway Commuters

A considerate cartographer wielding a stencil and a can of spray paint has left a helpful navigational compass at the top of the stairs outside the NRW train at Prince Street for commuters exiting the station. As even native New Yorkers cant attest, everyone has exited a subway station and needed a moment to reorient themselves; a directional compass will make it that much easier. The unknown compass crusader stenciled the sidewalk at the uptown 6 train station on Spring Street as well.

[UPDATE: Spotted one at the uptown 6 Bleeker Street station as well.] [UPDATE: 06.21.10: Our anonymous cartographer has been busy, the compasses are appearing all over town.]

Using sidewalk compasses is an idea that has been tried before by both official and unofficial sources. In 2006, a blogger snapped a photo of a compass on the sidewalk at the 8th Street L station; someone else caught one on Bleecker. The City of New York's Department of Transportation got in on the act in 2007, installing compass decals in the ground at selected stations around midtown, in a pilot program that doesn't seem to have been continued.

Below, see the decal on Spring St. at the uptown 6 train station.

Fake Bird Twitters At Real People

Seen in a tree on Mott Street just north of Gimme Coffee, street art imitates internet life with a bored bird, closely resembling Twitter's own mascot, tweeting at passersby.

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

From Street Trash To Street Art

One enterprising artist took the opportunity to use a number of doors and other wood panels laying about Little Italy on trash day for canvas, painting at least four in one evening. Two were still there the next day. I wonder if any enterprising residents continued the cycle of opportunity by taking one and giving it a new home inside their apartment? See a photo of another piece that didn't quite make it through the night below.

Felix Morelo: I Hope You Die

Felix Morelo's normally cheerful work takes a sinister turn in Soho where he writes: "I hope you die."

The drawings became progressively more friendly the farther east he traveled. Does Morelo prefer Little Italy to Soho? It appears so. See the progression of his recent work below, where you can click through for a larger version.

From left to right, after hoping you die in Soho, Morelo implored you to "go fuck yourself." He became more pleasant when he reached Nolita, leaving a "bad good luck spot" and then finally in Little Italy, a community "PDA Spot." 

Hello Friend: Philip Lumbang Bears At Washington Square

This plastic a-frame generously covered on both sides with the playful art of Philip Lumbang was spotted last week near Washington Square Park.

Last time NYC The Blog spotted Lumbang, he was in action with Shai Dahan on the corner of Broome and Chrystie reclaiming illegal NPA advertising structures as public art space. 

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter.

New York City DOB Goes On The Offensive Against Illegal Billboards

NPA billboards (seen top left) proliferated on corners all over Manhattan. That alone raised eyebrows, but it was those small "win these posters inside" signs sitting atop the ads that were really suspect. And though you really could win a poster as advertised, there was something fishy about the offer, as if they were used to skirt the regulation by changing intent.

Ryan Fitzgibbon, spokeswoman for the City Department of Buildings, told the New York Times:
“If outdoor advertisement is allowed, a permit from D.O.B. must be obtained in order to post an advertisement or a sign,” she said, adding, “Advertisements are not allowed on construction fences.”

The DOB has its work cut out for it—there are thousands of illegal advertisement structures in the city—but it seems that DOB has been making progress. On May 28, 2009, for the first time ever, the DOB forcibly removed an illegal ad at 174 Broadway. What's more, The New York Post reports that a federal appeals court ruling in February finally authorized the city to enforce regulations that the billboard industry has hotly contested since the Giuliani administration. This has resulted in a "blitz against illegal signs and billboards along the city's busiest roadways," with 53 voluntarily removed.

It's quite possible you've noticed the results in your own neighborhood. As of late, the DOB has also been focusing on street level billboards owned by NPA. The sites first get covered in white paper, before being taken down completely. Note the photo above showing the results of these efforts, on corner of Mulberry and Kenmare.

What about the signs advertising free posters?