Nolita Street Art: Lafayette Street between Houston and Prince

To celebrate Game of Thrones returning for season 6, I thought I would cover 10 blocks simultaneously, while juggling dozens of storylines back and forth. Also I'll make sure to have someone die, someone be tortured, and someone get naked. Then after that--

Actually never mind, that all seems like a lot of work. Plus I don't have the budget for it. Instead I'll look at one block, but it's an interesting block. Really. Maybe a dragon will even make an appearance at some point (it won't).

This block is in the Nolita neighborhood, and right at the corner of Lafayette and Houston is the first of several works of street art. This one is on the sidewalk for thousands of people to hurriedly walk past at this busy intersection.

The Oraculo Project is by an anonymous Brazilian artist, who has also done street art in London and Brazil. In March 2016 he put blindfolds on statues throughout Rio de Janeiro as a general protest against corruption in the country. 

Since the message on Lafayette Street is at such a bustling corner, I would consider it a great achievement if he got even one or two people to stop, appreciate, and smile. But it's certainly worth a shot. By the way, oraculo is Portuguese for oracle.

Also at the Lafayette/Houston Street corner (the 'ou' in Houston is pronounced like 'house,' not like Houston, Texas) is the Puck Building:

It dates back to the late 19th century and these days is occupied by NYU and also some businesses like REI, which sells outdoor gear, and the restaurant 'Chefs Club by Food & Wine,' which features the Best New Chefs from Food & Wine magazine. 

The building has two exterior gilded statues of Puck, a figure in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream which was based on a character from English mythology also called Puck. One of the statues is above an entrance on Lafayette Street:

The opposite corner has been a gas station for a long time and seems to be under renovation. Since this is such a busy intersection, there are many large, unavoidable billboards all around it.

Just next to the gas station is artwork by the talented Dasic Fernandez, whose pieces I have noted in previous posts in Chelsea and the East Village. 

Unfortunately some people did annoying scribbles over parts of it, but it's still largely intact. I love how vivid and intensely colorful his works are. 

This site was recently a pop-up store for Swiss Water, which sells decaf coffee. Along with decorating the outside of the building, Fernandez was one of several artists to create paintings for Swiss Water which were donated to the non-profit Grounds for Health. 

In fact, Fernandez worked on both ends of the building, which runs across to Crosby Street. Here is his work on that side:

Our block is intersected along the way by a small side street called Jersey Street. Here is a look down that street to the west:

And here's Jersey Street to the east, which has the Mulberry Street branch of the New York Public Library. It was also the first block I ever wrote about for this blog. Ah, the good old days.

Continuing south past the Jersey Street crossing, there is a tribute to David Bowie by the street artist Goldloxe.

Many people have written messages on it to honor and remember David Bowie. 

Just next door is Alternative Apparel, an eco-friendly clothing company, although the store seems to be temporarily closed. They held a contest to have an artist's work appear on their stairs leading to the entrance, and the winner was Shona Neary with a work inspired by nature and the subway:

Also on this side of the block, actually closer to Jersey Street, is an Italian cosmetics store with old-school roots called Santa Maria Novella. How old-school? The company's website says they go back to when an Italian monk opened a pharmacy in 1612, and in fact even earlier to the 13th century when a monastery was started outside Florence by Domenican friars and they began experimenting with ingredients and recipes. Okay, I admit that's pretty old. 

There are several other shops along both sides of the block, especially as it approaches Prince Street. Most of them are clothing stores, as this is a big shopping area of downtown Manhattan. Here are a few photos:

As a Mets fan, I don't feel inclined to use Atlanta Peach Movers if they're the official movers of the Atlanta Braves. Did they just do a big move from Atlanta to New York? If that's a New York-based truck then I don't understand their advertising strategy.

On the west side of the Prince Street intersection, here's a look east, and then south further along Lafayette Street. 

Back near Houston Street there was a nice small plot with a tree and colorful flowers. 

I wish more of the block was like that. Oh well, it's still a nice street with some good art on it these days. I hope you enjoyed this look at it.