Chelsea

After the success of the last New York Street Advertising Takeover in April 2009, Public Ad Campaign organized another band of artists to liberate the mostly illegally operated NPA billboards in Manhattan and Brooklyn on Sunday, October 25. Like last time, the first wave of volunteers in OSHA-approved neon vests, buffed the ad spots with white paint, followed by a second wave of artists who added their unique touches, turning the locations into temporary public canvasses and challenging the outdoor advertising company’s claims to legitimacy.

This time, however, the NPA became hip to the widespread attack pretty quickly and responded with violence-threatening workers and lots of wheatpaste, in some cases reclaiming the space as quickly as it had been buffed and decorated. The NYPD also joined the cat and mouse game and at last count, The tally was that five people were arrested (although it’s not clear if they were whitewashers or artists) and 114 billboards were painted.

The bizarre game continued for most of Sunday: billboards would be whitewashed, then murals painted, which led way to NPA workers infiltrating the scene and wheat pasting over the fresh art with low-quality post bills.

We will be there to bring you the latest on the inevitable part three.

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