You Told Us is a regular feature where we highlight comments from users in the communities DNAinfo covers.
BUSHWICK — A crochet mural that went up adjacent to the Bushwick Flea this summer sparked controversy this week after it was revealed the flea owner never received permission to put it up — angering locals who said the art represented "hipster transplant" entitlement.
Will Giron, whose aunt owns the building, wrote a lengthy Facebook post claiming flea owner Rob Abner yelled and cursed at him when asked to take the mural down. By Wednesday, Abner and artist London Kaye announced they would take the mural down.
The ordeal struck up strong feelings among locals and DNAinfo readers about art and gentrification.
Many people thought both Kaye and Bushwick Flea owner Abner should have talked to both the property owner and community members before moving forward with the art:
► Neighborhood Square commenter nicole-shulman said she was a muralist for seven years and artists should work to create pieces that reflect the neighborhood.
"The most important part of our job WAS reaching out to neighbors and building owners to design artwork that was RELEVANT to the community," she said.
► Not talking to approaching neighbors or local block associations is a "dis," one Facebook user said. "Just walk [through] as if [people] already there are invisible."
Lots of people saw the art work as a negative symbol of the neighborhood's gentrification:
► "Man they need to take that sh-t down!" one Facebook user said. "Always [trying to] push people away [in] neighborhoods that been there for years."
But others liked the piece itself and said they didn't mind the changes in the neighborhood:
► Neighborhood Square user MikeLo said he grew up in Ridgewood and welcomes new dynamics in the area.
"Bushwick and Ridgewood are 'transitional' neighborhoods and have been so for over fifty years," MikeLo wrote. "The only people whom would have any true right to throw around labels at newcomers to the neighborhood are the Germans."
