This Artist is Using Monopoly Property Cards to Highlight Rents
In this town, nary is there an equivalent to the relative steal of Baltic Avenue.
To that end, the anonymous artist Symbol has repurposed the classic Monopoly property cards to highlight the exorbitant commercial rents around New York City. So far, there are wheat-paste treatments for Broadway, Bleecker Street, Lexington Avenue, and the Lower East Side.
This mockup of the title deeds shows the monthly rents for different lease intervals (i.e. 1 to 4 years). The fine print is a quote from Jane Jacobs – “There are only two ultimate public powers in shaping and running American cities: votes and control of the money. To sound nicer, we may call these ‘public opinion’ and ‘disbursement of funds,’ but they are still votes and money.”
We’re told that Symbol spent late Monday night gluing the bills to various street furniture around the Lower East Side.
“I’ve lived in New York City for many years and got tired of all the empty storefronts all over the city,” Symbol, who asked to remain anonymous, told us in a text. “It’s just a game between the landlords, tenants, and politicians, and we all lose. We’ve lost the vibrancy in Manhattan replaced with the hope of a pharmacy or a bank. The fun and character is gone.”
When asked about the choice of neighborhoods to lampoon, Symbol explained plans to include Monopoly cards “wherever the city died.” That’s a lot of pasters…
Recent Stories
One Year Later, ‘Fiore Escape’ COVID Sessions Still Captivate
One year after first captivating passersby at Essex and Grand Streets, the free fire escape concert series is back for another. Indeed, musician Jill Fiore will perform anew from the second floor of her Essex Street tenement (above Delancey Car Service). The next so-called “Fiore Escape” show is slated for October 15, as announced on […]
Parks Department Installs Fence at Allen Mall Bathhouse in Response to Nadja Rose Madder
The Parks Department is upping the ante on deterring a homeless artist from painting and gathering at the Allen Street Bathhouse. Earlier this week, the city began assembling an eight-foot chain-link enclosure to (partially) fence in the sidewalk plaza. It is on this spot that transgender artist Nadja Rose Madder has been transforming the brickwork […]
Extell Residents in Cherry Street Tower Bark Foul Over Abundance of Dogs Despite No Pet Policy
Residents of Extell’s “affordable tower” at 227 Cherry Street are barking foul over the proliferation of pitbulls, despite the no-pet policy. We are told by current tenants that leases contain a strict stipulation prohibiting pets in apartments, and that management (Wavecrest) seems deaf and/or slow to act about the apparent violations. By some estimates, there […]
Aggro Panhandler Hurls Brick at Pickle Guys Worker in Brutal Attack
An aggro panhandler outside Pickle Guys on Grand Street attacked an employee after he was asked to move away from the store entrance, cops said. The suspect had been aggressively begging at around 8:20am last Wednesday when the 63-year-old worker told him to disperse. That didn’t sit well; the pugilist picked up a nearby chair […]
Educational Alliance Executive Becomes New Head of Manhattan JCC
From the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side. Rabbi Joanna Samuels, the sitting executive director of the Manny Cantor Center at the Educational Alliance, is set to become the new chief executive director of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Her new gig begins early next year, marking a significant transition at one of […]
