Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Banksy Art in Woodside Vandalized Just a Day After Completion

By Katie Honan | October 15, 2013 11:31am
 The famed British street artist's latest work in Woodside was tagged up less than a day later.
Banksy's Latest Artwork Defaced
View Full Caption

WOODSIDE — The renowned street artist Banksy's creation in Queens has already been defaced.

The black-and-white stencil of a man scrubbing off a pink quote, which popped up on the side of a building at 38th Avenue and 69th Street on Monday, was covered by black graffiti tags and the words "F--- BANKSY" on Tuesday morning.

Crowds gathered in Woodside all day Monday to see the work, which has the words "What we do in life echoes in Eternity" written in cursive, which Banksy attributed to the film "Gladiator."

Vandalism to the piece by the elusive artist — who sold a single work for $249,000 last summer — was first spotted Monday night, according to Gothamist.

Forest Hills resident and photographer Nick Torres, 22, said he was sorry to see the new graffiti.

"There's no hope for this generation when something like this gets defaced," he said. "When somebody who's that great of an artist blesses us, then it's bad. It makes New York look bad."

Tom Tobin, 35, lives up the street and rode his bike to check out the art.

"It's cool and all," he said, then pointed to the tags. "But a lot of people obviously don't like him."