Inside the graffiti turf war over a legendary NYC wall 

Over the last 15 years, the corner of Houston and Bowery has gone from being one of the city’s filthier corners to an internationally-regarded fresh-air gallery. The iconic slab at the crossroads, known as the Bowery wall, has displayed work from some of street art’s biggest names, including JR, Banksy and Shepard Fairey.

But, recently, the writing on the wall has changed. Since the spring of 2022, it’s been in a state of feral flux, with numerous lesser known painters tagging it. 

“It was like the streets had taken over,” recalled Olivia Flores, whose husband and collaborator David Flores’

flowery, red mural of a motorcycle was the last formally commissioned piece, in October 2021, to adorn the wall.

“It was a huge explosion,” David told The Post, remembering how the tags piled up slowly and then all at once, overwhelming the wall’s private buffing team and blanketing his creation. 

Initially, the LA-based artist thought the unsanctioned additions to his work were “awesome, art talking to each other, a 21-gun salute,” and a natural part of creating a public mural, but after a while “the graffiti got out of hand.”