Legendary Graffiti Mural Wiped Out On High Line

I think most would agree that REVS wasn't really a mural, but it was a well done tag. Although the design lacked conventional artistry, the ingenuity behind it was noteworthy: REVS COST was applied with a particular type of paint which is why it remained so vibrant for so long and, despite a day of removal effort, still left a shadow that'll remain on the building for a while.

The best graf art has gone legit anyway, namely because graf artists who value their work tend to not want it scrubbed off or written off so they obtain the consent of a building or gallery owner beforehand. (i.e. at 5 pointz and in a growing number of gallery spaces in the village and BK)

Lastly, the owner of this property requested the removal of the graffiti, not the City. Regardless of the public's opinion of graf art, if an owner doesn't want it on his/her property, he/she has a right to get rid of it. Period.

Liberalism > Populism.

i heard from good sources that revs is a joke, he used to get beaten up and robbed in the train yard all the time, that was when he was a skinny little white kid. today he is just a skinny little white kid who still cant fight.

and thats not a mural. thats just a roller.

yeah, i'm like what mural?

also, is that second picture what it looks like now? big fucking deal.

If that was a mural the mole on my ass is a rembrandt

At exactly what point does it go from graffiti to art. Do the tags that MS13 put up around my neighborhood count as art? Does the destruction of a fence put up by a property owner count as art? NYC has continuously changed just look at the highline... it was the el at one time, and the hudson river was once completely blocked from view by industry that existed in the area. Things change and some "artist's" work being scrubbed off hardly is a tragedy in the city.

By the way, if anyone actually is interested, heres an interview with REVS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axH-CfHOzf4

Earsnot is still up.

I guess we need room for another greased up, under weight, underwear ad. Shame.

Staten Island has a Young Republicans Club? Where do I sign up?

While I do respect REVS, this was not one of my favs.

I think part of the reason it was so "legendary" is who did it, how big they did it, where they did it and of course, how long it has stayed up.

But the feeling I get is that people didnt want this buffed, not because it was a good mural but because it would eliminate even more graf from an area growing increasingly more glassy and plastic.

"...it became clear that the graffiti that had long adorned the area wasn't going to be a part of the new luxury landscape."

Says who? All it takes is a couple of kids with some paint, climbing skills, and chutzpah. I'll give it a month.

I find those billboards for Izod, Transformers, Hennessey, which are all lit at night, far more intyrusive and visually chaotic than some graffiti which is reminiscent of what the HIgh Line was. Maybe Friends of the High Line was concerned that tourists might step off the path as they posed in front of REVS COST for snapshots.

No one is forcing anyone to read this article, if you can't fathom why people would ever write their names on a wall illegally... then skip the article and keep reading about Magnolia Bakery's newest cupcake line.

Graffiti/Writing IS an essential piece of New York City History and no one really cares if you have anything to oppose that...

"So you're saying people who don't like ugly vandalism = Republicans. Democrats = party of property destruction?"

If you don't like ugly vandalism you're probably too busy being spoon-fed by the city. Go paint over it, I hope you get your ass beat down by whoever did it.

what exactly does dobkin threatening "it's war" mean? more blog posts about street art?

"what exactly does dobkin threatening "it's war" mean?"

Nothing. It was irrelevant bluster.

Some people just don't know how to appreciate art.

I wouldn't call this a "mural" per say but REVS has pushed the limits of what graffiti is stereotypically known for. While this particular work is rather bland/plain to many, REVS main goal during his active years in the streets was to go against advertisers that were putting in your face messages to the general public. Since then he has gone onto to do welding graffiti pieces and other forms of art. While I'm not one to disregard those against graffiti, REVS in my opinion can be regarded more as an artist above anything.

Wait, so let me get this straight. Rev "countered" ugly, obtrusive promotional messages for advertisers' products by putting up ugly, obtrusive, promotional messages for...himself?

NYC is Graffiti, Graffiti is NYC. COST and REVS are NYC Kings. Gothamist is a website dedicated to all things NYC. So STFU!

What an ugly 'mural'.

Get rid of this garbage.

'Crack is whack' is a mural.

'Graffiti Hall of Fame' (previously Graffiti-opoly) is a mural.

This is crap.

Glad to see that crap painted over. It really is an eye sore to the neighborhood. THe highline is much more beautiful without taggers making things ugly.

We can thank Guliani for his great efforts to clean this city of subway and street graffiti, making it a nicer place for all.

most of the art was done by REVS not COST. Cost was the younger jock of REVS who was really just REVS assistant. He carried his paint and hooked him up in general. REVS is a real life-long artist, COST was a graffiti guy who got caught and did community service. REVS is still out there doing metal sculptures in the street. He also has many diary entries in the subway tunnels. REVS is an interesting artust, COST isn't.

Revs is definitely legendary. But graffiti always has and always will get buffed. It's part of the whole process. Sad to see it go, but fear not little ones, it's just opening the door to get something really pretty in there, like one of those giant fire extinguisher tags. It's gonna be awesome.

Jake never showed up at Gothamist because he's either holed up at home plotting his revenge while listening to the Mission: Impossible them repeating endlessly on his iPod (it may involve rappelling down from the roof in the dark of night), or he's been captured and as an enemy combatant/prisoner of "war," is going through the rendition process right now, on a plane halfway to Singapore, where they don't treat taggers with kid gloves.

Either that, or he's drowning his sorrows in some seedy bar in the Village.

BOoOoO! But i moved from Ohio to SEE street art! I'm a hard-ass NYer now! I am outraged that the city is getting soft! Nevermind that i would've NEVER moved to the big bad city if it wasn't safe! NYC 4 LYFE!! Just ignore that i still say "gosh"! MORE EXCLAMTION POINTS! I live in a luxury doorman building in Clinton, but tell my old HS friends back in Dayton that i'm tough and living in Hell's Kitchen! I pronounce it WAH-ter!

REVS COST being painted over the old warehouse sign in the first place is much more upsetting than its removal now.

Part of the trouble with graffiti art and our contemporary attitude toward it is that not only does the public have the same "it's bad vandalism" attitudes that it's always had, but it's increasingly difficult to justify contemporary graffiti as "art". It's imitative and boring and not really creative anymore, and thoroughly embedded in suburban and high art culture.

Graffiti has lost its edginess and reverted back to a low folk art, just about as interesting as gingham pillows and hand carved wooden ducks.

That applied when the sign was made, but now the mural is part of the history of the building. I wonder what the "ten second before the cookie goes bad" rule is for vandalism?

REVS hasn't worked since the 90s, yet these REVS/COST murals are still everywhere around the city. I'm not broken up over the loss of one.

you guys have an office?

Ah, take a paint roller, make some ugly tag, & get chumps to call it street art. WORST GRAFFITI EVER.

this sucks... the west side has gotten torn up the last few years

Thanks for the update Gothamist. Sad to see another bit of unique art scrubbed clean by another corporation.

It is always amusing to see the Staten Island Young Republicans show up in the comments anytime street art or graffiti are mentioned. Comments from them might be a little light today since they are all spouting off on the Mineo story and trying to one up each other with their witty one liners.

Daveon8th - Seems like Revs is not the only one painting with a broad brush. I'm a lifelong democrat and live in Harlem. Outer borough republicans aren't the only ones who don't glorify vandals. Personally, I never found REVS creative or talented. If you do it's your prerogative, but that doesn't change the fact that he was a criminal. Party affiliation or location do not change that.

So you're saying people who don't like ugly vandalism = Republicans. Democrats = party of property destruction?

Nope. I'm saying that whenever there is a post about graffiti, the conservative buffons show up with puffed chests.

I think it goes beyond conservative v. liberal. Plenty of Gothamist commenters who seem to have liberal views hate graffiti just as much as the more conservative commenters. I think it's a matter of common sense that people don't like their house or apartment building that they pay a lot of money to live in defaced by idiots.

Seriously? This is a simple roller job, hardly skillful, or "legendary"= about on par with "Youth Moose" along the BQE in Sunset Park.

As far as SI bashing goes, it's trite, folks. It sine qua non for the transplants - to show that they are "REAL NY'ers"

Great post. Did you notice the Youth Moose tag while stuck in traffic on the BQE coming into Manhattan from Staten Island? And drop the stupid "Real NYer" talk, it makes you look desperate. Get back to your model train table down in the basement.

Must proofread more closely...

"legendary"

is that mural really "legendary"?

It looks like they just "vintaged" it (although that's probably the first step to getting rid of it altogether) which would appear to make it acceptable to the pretty-boys who run the Highline... no?

Whew, now Outback Steakhouse can open their franchise up there with no seedy graffito-taggery to scare tourists. From what I understand people from Iowa cannot walk 30 feet without a Bloomin' Onion.

What is the significance of this "mural" again?

I bet Billy Mays could have washed that shit off.

See Above: Block Letters, not art.

See Link: ART

http://hintz.ifrance.com/images/pisa/graffiti/keith_haring.jpg

Being, like, a totally awesome internet guy I could figure out that your non-working link is to a Haring image. Haring wouldn't be anywhere without stuff like this mural to back it up. And besides, Haring is boooooooring.

That said, most graffiti is boring crap. Uncreative, imitative nothings. And just like the worst art, people like the the worst graffiti the best. Alas.

That is not the best graffiti I've ever seen.

Gothamist, give it up. Your audience on the whole does not care about the specifics of the graffiti world. "Legendary" among whom?

Start a street art blog.

he already has a street blog

and yes, some of us do care and enjoy these posts. if you don't like it.. you can elsewhere?

Agreed, bb. I, for one, am always interested in these posts. Street art is part of what gives NYC is appeal.

Really? And here I thought it was the architecture, the food, the cornucopia of culture, the mass transit, the plethora of parks, the variegated stew in the melting pot, the limitless energy of the streets, the patina of history, etc. Who would ever have suspected that it was actually because of crappy "art"?

"the cornucopia of culture...the patina of history"

I'm not a fan of graffiti, but even I can see that it is (was) a huge part of NYC culture and history.

Please explain how some attention whore whose daddy never gave him enough hugs writing his nonsensical make-believe name on a wall is "art."

If you're going to discredit attention seeking people with daddy issues from art, you're going to lose a lot of art.

That's the polite way of saying: your characterization of graffiti artists is total and complete bullshit.

A reduction in visual chaos is appreciated.

Trollbait. Eat up boys!