Though Banksy is known to be a more or less permanent London resident, his street art in NYC is also plentiful. Thus, every visitor to New York with a passion for Banksy’s creative activity should know the greatest highlights of his presence.
The 2008 Fake Pet Shop
One of the first examples of Banksy’s street art in NYC appeared in 2008. It was titled “The Village Pet Store & Charcoal Grill,” a provocative installation criticizing factory farming. The artwork contained some creepy images, like alive chicken nuggets jumping into the sauce.
The 2013 “Better Out Than In” tour over NYC
Many works by Banksy were created in New York during the artist’s 2013 tour “Better Out Than In” in November 2013. The artist created 31 street art masterpieces during that month, from “The Street Is in Play” at 18 Allen Street on day 1 to the “Inflatable Throw-Up” at Borden Avenue and 35th Street on day 31. That was a period when Banksy’s world-known “This Is My New York Accent” mural and the “You Complete Me” artwork in Midtown emerged.
Unfortunately, most of Banksy’s works produced in the New York streets during his 2013 tour were removed, sold, covered over, or ‘repurposed,’ with the only remaining one – Zabar’s Banksy under the official name “The Hammer Boy” on 79th Street. This stencil features a small boy holding a sledgehammer with a piece of tape, with his name attached to the wall.
Zabar’s has been taking care of the Banksy stencil for over a decade thus far, protecting it from vandals and the NYPD anti-graffiti department. Saul and Stanley Zabar, the business owners, shielded it with plexiglass and continually oversaw it for the sake of street art preservation.
Beyond street art in NYC: Banksy Museum
With New York being a global capital of street art, very few of Banksy’s works stood any chance of being preserved and were hastily covered up with new graffiti. To compensate for that loss and give New York residents a chance to appreciate Banksy’s art, the Banksy Museum opened in NYC in SoHo in May 2024 under the curation of Hazis Vardar.
The museum has become the largest collection of Banksy’s artwork and murals in the world. It contains over 160 works by the famous anonymous artist, collected from Bristol, Paris, London, Los Angeles, and other cities. This space offers an unrivaled immersive experience with access to Banksy’s diverse artwork, much of which has already been destroyed. Unique elements of the exhibition are studio works and animated visual and video materials.