This weekend’s takeover of illegally placed billboards by Public Ad Campaign. N 6th and Bedford.

UPDATE: The Times and AnimalNY have full coverage. Evidently, the company responsible for the illegal billboards, NPA City Outdoor, responded quickly and aggressively - intimidating artists and re-wheatpasting the some of the billboards almost immediately. This includes whatever wonderful thing this girl was painting. Not three hours later it was advertisements again. According to the Times:

In any event, the newly painted-over spots were not to remain blank for long. Within hours, men driving pickup trucks with New Jersey license plates put up new ads where the artists had obscured the old ones.

One of those men, on West 25th Street, refused to identify himself or the company he was working for, instead responding to an inquiry from a reporter with an epithet, and the directive, “Take a walk.”

Along with that, six artists were arrested on unspecified charges It sort of makes you wonder: the city doesn’t make any money off of the illegal billboards. So why then would they default to a defense of commerce over art?

Also, NPA/City Outdoor - fuck you.

(For more information on them, and the (il)legality of what they do, click here. Maybe you want to send a strongly worded letter to the CEO of your favorite brand, asking him to refrain from using NPA or you and your friends will will refrain from using their products. Just saying.)