In a city whose streets lack vivacity and social life, graffiti has become a "mean to emphasize existence amid a prevailing impression that New York died" after the pandemic. As dusk becomes nightfall, graffiti artist Saynosleep takes a quick look around and then gets to work on a luxury store closed since it was looted during protests.
The anonymous 40-year-old artist, who uses a different pseudonym for his artwork, said: "There has never been a time like this."
The facades of hundreds of store that have shut because of the pandemic are "an invitation" to artists. Walls, bridges, sidewalks and subway cars, 34 of which have been painted since the beginning of the month, are canvases. "It's a big surge, a renaissance of graffiti. Everybody wants to express themselves. People are bored. They need something to do," said Saynosleep, noting that he has seen people in their 70s drawing graffiti.
The creative impulses are not to everyone's taste, however. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said the graffiti was "another sign of decay," along with an increase in murders and shootings in New York City. He indirectly blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for supposedly taking a lax attitude towards it.
"I think it's horrible. Some say it's art, but did they get permission for that? No, so it's vandalism," said Darcy Weber, who has recently settled in New York. For some, graffiti reminds them of the dark days of the 1970s and '80s when New York was broke and crime was rife.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told AFP the force is "fully aware of the importance of addressing graffiti-related crime."
