October 20, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
Month xx–xx, 2019
LOCAL
CLASSIFIEDS
PAG E 15
Paulie Nassar with his “Charlotte’s Web” themed mural. Photo by Colin Mixson
The writing’s on the wall
Artists unveil literary-themed murals at Prospect Heights ruins
BY BEN VERDE
A group of painters unveiled the
latest chapter in a recurring series
of mural enhancements to a
gnarly, old ruins of a former laundromat
in Prospect Heights.
The new mural project saw
artists take on famous book covers,
such as “Moby Dick,” “Water
for Elephants,” and “Tales of the
City,” along with many famed literary
tales. One mural features a
spin on “Where The Wild Things
Are” featuring the original children’s
book characters dressed
as Brooklyn hip–hop trio The
Beastie Boys.
The art graces the dilapidated
laundromat at St. Johns Place and
Underhill Avenue, which was gutted
by a fi re some 16 years ago.
The owner was never able to renovate
his ramshackle edifi ce, but
the building received an unexpected
facelift in 2015, when artist
and longtime Prospect Heights
resident Jeff Beler contacted the
building’s owner and convinced
him to donate the construction
fence surrounding his burnt-out
husk for use as a canvas.
Since then, Beler and his
band of professional and amateur
painters have repainted the barricade
every six months or so. Past
themes have included “Urban
Jungle” and zodiac signs, and the
recurring makeover has become a
cause for celebration among community
members.
“It’s changed the community,”
Beler said. “Every time we do an
installation it just brings the children
and everybody out.”
Paulie Nassar, a Brooklynbased
artist who has been involved
with the murals since it
was last updated and contributed
a “Charlottes Web” mural last
weekend, said he loved being a
part of a project of local renown.
“I love the reaction,” said Nassar,
who runs Off the Wall Graffi
ti, a Brooklyn based nonprofi t
for kids who have gotten in trouble
for doing graffi ti. “People coming
up all day and saying thank
you, and that they love coming by
on their way home.”
And while Nassar’s mural
may only live for half a year, that
just means he gets to go back and
paint something new.
“So many times you get these
things where people put in a mural
project and they want the
mural to be there for 20 years,”
he said. “To know when I do my
piece, that it has a six-month shelf
life, I kind of enjoy that as a street
artist. I feel like we fi ght to make
everything permanent now, no
one wants anyone to go over their
thing, that was never the point,
the point was to paint on stuff,
let’s just get back to that.”
C’ Heights
mourns mass
shooting
BY BEN VERDE
Brooklynites gathered Monday
night to mourn the victims of a
mass shooting that claimed four
lives in Crown Heights on Oct. 12.
Borough President Eric Adams
— who organized the candlelight
vigil outside the illegal Utica
Avenue gambling den where the
massacre occurred — lamented
the national epidemic of gun-violence
plaguing communities of
color, which he says has numbed
the country to acts of senseless
killing.
“We are not going to allow a
mass shooting in our community
and just fl ip over the pages and
act like it did not happen,” Adams
said. “This has destroyed our
community, and we are outraged
that the country continues to be
dismissive of mass shootings in
communities of color.”
Several dozen mournful Brooklynites
joined Adams and Crown
Heights Councilman Robert Cornegy
at the vigil, where they held
candles, uttered prayers, and set
out four pairs of empty shoes —
one for each victim of Saturday’s
shootout.
The gun battle — which killed
four people and injured three others
at an underground gambling
ring between Pacifi c and Dean
streets — was the second mass
shooting in the borough within
three months.
In July, two gunmen opened
fi re at a block party in Brownsville
— killing one person and injuring
11 others.
Adams blasted the lack of resources
offered to predominantly
African-American communities
like Crown Heights and Brownsville
in the wake of tragedies,
which he says are treated with
greater consideration in suburban
and rural areas.
“How many schools in this
Continued on page 14
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