14 AUGUST 16, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Artist transforms graffi ti-covered
building into patriotic masterpiece
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Looking east from the corner of
Decatur Street and Seneca Avenue
in Ridgewood used to reveal
one of the community’s few eyesores:
an old brick warehouse, an underpass
and train cars on the tracks above, all
covered in amateur graffi ti.
Over the past few months, however,
the landscape has been transformed
into a colorful, patriotic masterpiece.
The brick warehouse is used for storage
purposes by its owner, local plumbing
supply company Gil Meyerowitz
Inc., but they had grown tired of the
constant defacing, according to bookkeeper
Rose Ann Meyers. At one point
the company hired a Glendale-based
group to come clean the walls, but a
fresh canvas attracted new graffiti
artists almost immediately, Meyers said.
Finally, someone suggested an artist
to come paint something on the building
that local vandals would respect,
and the results have been better than
expected.
“It just looks so much better,” Meyers
said. “And I think for the community,
when you’re driving up the streets and
you see all this graffi ti and then you
go further and see that eagle, it’s just
refreshing.”
The detailed face of a bald eagle
perched atop the highest section of the
building with the red and white stripes
of an American fl ag painted in the background
was the fi rst part of the project
to be completed. On the southern wall
of the building along Seneca Avenue,
the word “Ridgewood” is painted in
massive, urban-style lettering, though
it is not completely fi lled in yet.
Another section of the southern wall
includes a giant replica of the Statue
of Liberty, complete with a view of
the bay and Lower Manhattan in the
background. The cityscape is fi lled
with vibrant shades of blue, orange,
magenta and red as if the sun was
setting before it.
When the Ridgewood Times visited
the site on Aug. 9, the man behind the
mural was hard at work, adding small
details to the body of Lady Liberty. He
is a well-known graffi ti artist from
Brooklyn named Vers, but citing the
underground nature of the graffi ti
culture, he preferred his real name
not be used.
As a lifelong tagger himself, Vers
admitted that he used to love doing
the very thing that the folks at Gil
Meyerowitz hired him to cover up.
As his art evolved over time, however,
he saw how off -putting some amateur
work could be, especially at the corner
of Decatur and Seneca. Now that he is
nearly fi nished with the mural, Vers
said the response from the community
has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
During his conversation with
the Ridgewood Times, Vers was approached
by three separate people
who wanted to thank him and compliment
the work of art. It’s been happening
every day that he’s there, he said,
and some neighbors even bring him
water bottles and snacks to get him
through the August heat wave.
He’s also been visited by kids from
the neighborhood who paint graffi ti
and respect his work, Vers said.
“It’s been incredible. The guy is talented
as hell,” said one passerby, Keith
Schieren, a custodian at nearby P.S. 68.
“Look, you can see people staring right
now. Everybody has a positive vibe
and they want to take pictures. To me
it’s a great thing for the community.”
Mike Cleaver, a manager for Gil
Meyerowitz who comes to the supply
building every day, added that the
building’s new look is a big improvement
over the “terrible” state that he
used to see.
While the weather has been the
biggest challenge for the artist along
the way, Vers said he hopes to have
the mural completed in the next two
weeks. Once he fi lls in the lettering of
the “Ridgewood” text, he also plans to
paint diff erent scenes from the neighborhood
underneath it. He will also
add more details to the garage door of
the building to make it part of the Statue
of Liberty scene, while creatively
blending in a “No Parking” warning.
The artist commended the people
from Gil Meyerowitz for “going above
and beyond” to accommodate him
and for allowing him to have creative
freedom, as ideas for the project have
evolved along the way. From the company,
the feeling is more than mutual.
“The guy did an amazing job and
it brings the building a whole new
dimension,” said Adam Coopersmith,
an offi ce manager. “It’s a nice change
of pace for the neighborhood.”
Photos By Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
The artist known as Vers works on his mural at the corner of Seneca
Avenue and Decatur Street in Ridgewood on Aug. 9.
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