A giant painting of an erect penis that appeared overnight on the side of a New York apartment building proved to have little staying power after painting crews covered it only a few days after it first popped up.
Like an unwanted gift of a Yule log, the super-sized painting appeared overnight on Christmas Eve on a building on the Lower East Side, the New York Post reported. Neither residents nor the owner of 303 Broome St. were aware that the mural of the turgid member was about to appear on the side of the building that night.
Swedish street artist Carolina Falkholt took credit on Instagram for the massive graffiti. “NO TIME 4 BALL$$ … I have never heard so much laughter and seen so many happy faces behind my back when painting as for today doing this wall on Broome Street,” the artist said.
The artist has indulged her penchant for giant genitalia before. In 2015, Falkholt painted a giant vagina on the side of a building in Sweden.
Authorities are reportedly looking into the possibility of charging the artist for the graffiti, but no action has been taken to date.
One resident of the building next to mural was not amused by the whole thing.
“It’s ugly,” said Qun Chen, 47, whose third-story apartment has a full view of the thing. “There’s a lot of kids that live in this building and in the neighborhood — it’s not good for the kids, they’re little.”
The building’s owner, Samy Mahfar, was also less than pleased that his building served as Falkholt’s canvas. Once workers were finished with their Christmas holiday, Mahfar hired a painting crew to immediately whitewash the painting.
Along with the owner, the building’s management also felt like they got the shaft when the apartment building became the graffiti artist’s target. “The artist did not receive permission, we are extremely embarrassed and painting over it as quickly as possible,” SMA Equities said in a statement to the press.
Local parent Naomi Peña was unhappy with the sudden appearance of the painting.
“I am all for street art. I appreciate street art,” Peña told the media. “It’s one thing if you want to keep that art in your home, but when you put it on public display that becomes an issue.”
Peña also said the painting was offensive and was bad for the neighborhood’s children.
By Wednesday afternoon, the painters hired to eliminate the graffiti had done their work and the whole affair was just a bad memory.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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