Streetart. I just can't get enough of it. The streets of New York are covered with constantly changing art and Bushwick is one of the best places to find a lot of it. The Brooklyn neighborhood is filled with some cool and great work.
Guide Mar at Roberta's Pizza
Doing a streetart tour in Bushwick had been on my wishlist for some time and I had downloaded a huge amount of self guided walks from the internet. Since some of them mentioned that certain parts of Bushwick are still a bit "shady" I decided to hook up with a group tour. Well, it turned out that although some parts looked a bit desolated, rough and quiet, I did not find myself scared at any moment. Most parts were very vibrant. Bushwick is becoming the new place to be. Or probably already is. There are many little coffeeshops, bars, restaurants and cool clubs.
Part of a beautiful mural on Moore Street
I picked the Bushwick art and grafitti tour by Free Tours by Foot. I have had nothing but good experiences with them. Their tours are free, well, "pay as you please" and their guides are local, informative and fun.
Do the Dave on White Street
Guide Mar told us a little bit about life in Bushwick in the past and now and all the different kinds of streetart we'd come across in the next two hours. Stencil, wheat paste, poster, (spray)paint, sticker, throw ups, to name a few. And we saw it all! Thanks to Mar who sometimes had to point it out to us.
We saw this crocheted Skyline on a building at Harrison Place
Vandals in control on Melrose Street
Streetart. Some say it's nothing but vandalism, others say it's pure art.
"Love is color" Dina Saadi's first mural in Bushwick
During the walk around several blocks Mar showed us the messages and the tags in the murals and told us about capping and going over eachother's tags. Which is not very respectful.....
Spread Art NYC is curator of this part of Troutman Street
This lady and her dogs had to zigzag past all the people with cameras. It looked like a daily routine.
Corner of Troutman Street and Irvin Ave
I didn't realise how funny this piece was until I noticed the open sidewalk cellar.
The Simpsons on Troutman Street
We had entered the mecca of The Bushwick Collective. A few blocks covered with murals.
A mural by Sipros
Don't forget to look up and behind. Otherwise you'll miss great stuff. I almost missed the beautiful swans on the Brooklyn Brush Studios building.
Troutman.
Across from the Sipros mural is this cute bunny. I wanted to say "cute little bunny", but it's not. It's huge!
Humpty Trumpty at Wyckoff
Trump. Humpty Trumpty sat on a wall. Need I say more....
Also streetart.
This shark gave me goosebumps. And I instantly heard the Jaws tune....
El_Cekis en Dasic_Fernandez collaborated on this mural.
As did Joe Iurato and Logan Hicks. From what I heard their work often goes back to childhood memories.
And here our tour ended. We had been walking for 2 hours and I feel that we only saw a small part. I would have loved to stay longer but there were other things on my program. So, Bushwick, see you soon! You'll probably look a lot different then. As will the walls. Good to know: the Bushwick Collective organises a huge blockparty each year in June. If you'd like to see some streetartists doing their thing, that might be a good time to visit New York!
After the walk I stopped at The Rookery for a delicious lunch and had a real nice chat with the girl behind the bar. Who had taken it upon herself to supply me with an overload of things to see and do on my next visit to New York. I loved the atmosphere in The Rookery. And the "eggs Sammy" (sandwich with fried egg, avocado, tomato and bacon) was delicious!
Good to know
I took the Citibike and parked it at the Montrose Ave station. Which is also a stop for the L train. If you go by train then Morgan Avenue is closer to the start of the tour. The tour starts right in front of the Swallow Cafe where I had the best (and first) turmeric chai latte ever. Just saying.....
Doing a tour with Free Tours by Foot is always a good idea! Check their calendar for New York tours here. And have a good one!
