Art on the Streets of New York City
April Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Graffiti & Street Art”
Banksy Accentuates a New York Building
Recently, my wife Kazumi and I traveled from Minnesota to New York City for a four-day vacation. My cycling friend, Andy, and his wife, Ann, had invited us to explore and enjoy the city with them. But the primary motivation for the journey was for Andy and me to ride in the annual Five Boro Bike Tour.
It was my wife’s first visit to New York City. I had taken my first and last trip to the metropolis in 1982, while a young airman in the U.S. Air Force. The trip’s purpose was to visit a girlfriend who had moved far away from me. But in two days I saw little more than her, her family, Times Square, and a not-to-be-revealed off-Broadway play.
Andy’s and Ann’s families had roots and relatives in New York. I had a connection, too. As a teenager from East Prussia, my grandmother, Anna, passed through Ellis Island in 1910, on her journey to Nebraska.
On our first full day in the city, Andy and I rode our bikes for forty miles, in pouring rain, with thousands of other cyclists. The route took us through the city’s five boroughs. This includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. We took cover on the final leg as we sailed, packed with our bikes into a Staten Island Ferry boat, past the Statue of Liberty.
On the final full day of our whirlwind tour of New York, Kazumi and I walked from our hotel to Central Park. As we turned a corner, the silhouette of a boy, painted on a brick wall, caught our eyes. He wore shorts and swung a sledge hammer toward a real fire hydrant. Banksy, renowned worldwide for his street art, had left his mark. Someone had covered the work in plexiglass to protect it from vandals and weather.
During our visit, we also explored the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and other places. Images of them remain etched in our minds, along with Banksy’s silhouette of a boy.
Kazumi and I may never return to New York City. But we cherish memories of our time there with Andy and Ann, exploring by bike, and on foot. Thanks to publisher Mary Chang Story Writer for April’s “Graffiti & Street Art” challenge.
