“Shop Small”. On the wall of McQuaids Restaurant & Pub at 44^th & 11^th:

Comes as a relief when all we thought we had to look forward to from now on was corporate-​sponsored “graffiti”.

Update: Turns out the “Animal” section of the mural is almost definitely related to Animal New York, the online magazine who are semi-​based on that corner, as they mention buried away in the legal section of their site. Guess that makes it’s another sponsored one. Thanks to Timbo for pointing that out. We’ll always have Banksy I suppose (and Hanksy)…

Another update in the non-​stop coverage of the incoming Kiehl’s store on 9^th Ave. The store commissioned the self-​proclaimed “mural kings” Tats Cru – a group of NYC graffiti artists “for hire” out of the Bronx – to create a mural outside the future cosmetics store, which went up over the weekend:

Edgy.

While some may see this as tacky, we’re hopeful it shows that the store is trying to “fit in” with the neighborhood and have a bit of character, rather than just being another chain store.

Of course, if you didn’t hear the news, last night 5 Pointz was whitewashed. Coincidental, but it says something when the “authentic” graffiti is being purged from the city while companies are paying for “branded” graffiti. Anyway…

First Hanksy, and now this. If you somehow missed the huge news today, Banksy’s latest piece was right here in our very own neighborhood, at the Hustler Club no less. The piece is captioned “Waiting in vain…”

Here’s a much nicer official shot:

As you’d expect, the mere mention of the name drew decent crowds:

The store up the road wasted no time churning out cheap printed photos of the piece, as well as magnets:

Earlier this month, Hanksy did a piece a few streets over, and now we’ve had a visit from Banksy. It’s been a big month.

While all the “trendy” neighborhoods are getting visits from Banksy, we’ve managed to go one better with a piece by Hanksy:

Colbert challenged Banksy to do a piece outside the studio (on W 54^th), but when that never happened Hanksy stepped in with “Col-​Bear”.

Then there’s this next to the main attraction:

Banksy? The work of a jealous rival? You decide.