Just across the river from the ClockTower at the top of Second Avenue is a landmark recognized by many but perhaps understood by few, the “Crack is Wack” billboard.
It’s a classic work of street art by the late graffiti artist Keith Haring, maintained by the city and memorialized as an official playground.
The whole of 1980‘s New York was an anything-goes playground that drew to a close with cocaine burnout, the expansion of HIV and the stock market crash in the Fall of ‘87.
It was more fun that that sounded. :-D
But in those wild years leading up to the crash Haring was as much a part of the downtown art scene as Basquiat, Warhol and Kenny Scharf.
I ran into him in the Bleecker Street subway station late one night in 1985. He was gaining celebrity by then and he looked just like his publicity photos; thick glasses, black leather jacket and all.
This photo is lifted from his website, taken in that same year.
The MTA covered empty subway ads with black paper back then and Keith saw perfect chalkboards waiting for his distinctive images.
I walked up and told him I thought he was doing cool work. He stopped drawing, turned and said thank you, reached into his pocket and handed me a button.
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