Photographer Jay Maisel bought 190 Bowery in 1966 for $102,000. He recently sold it for a reported $55 million.
As far back as I can remember these walls were always grimy and covered in graffiti of all sorts, but mostly the kind I call pasted paper. The video of the interior embedded in the article linked above from EV Grieve is a revelation of ordered grandeur and art. Could this have started as camouflage, hiding the luxury behind Bowery colored walls. The mystery has always been why the exterior walls have never been buffed (scrubbed clean of graff). The city’s anti graffiti squad never set upon it with their paint rollers. Whatever the reason this reminder of an older New York has remained, I am grateful that it has been a place where artists cam put their work to be seen. I have many hundred photos of the Maisel Building street art over the years, I’ll eventually compile the images into a video or book.
Near the corner entrance at Bowery.
Three eyes and two noses, Kitty Kitty. Don’t know who the artist is but I like it. It’s an example of painting on paper and giving it to the streets.
We knew things were going to hell in this neighborhood when that needle like structure went up looking down on the Bowery several years ago.
02/11/2015 at 10:17 pm
Thanks so much for your excellent documentation all these years. Since finding your blog and Flickr photos I’ve always appreciated it, but now that I’ve left home, I appreciate it even more.
The Jay Maisel building was frequently a pit-stop for me on my photos strolls downtown. I will miss it. In 10 years the LES and immediate surrounding areas will be unrecognizable.