19. Restored Crack is Wack Mural

Restored Crack is Wack mural by Keith Haring. Photo: NYC Parks

It’s been a while since New Yorkers have seen Keith Haring‘s Crack is Wack mural — it was under protective covering for four years during road construction and has been undergoing a restoration since August. And the version most well-known recently is not the original, which was painted over by the Parks Department back in 1986. Haring was fined but later asked to recreate the mural. It was repainted several times, most recently 2012.

In late August, the multi-month restoration by artist Louise Hunnicut was completed. She had been working to strip the mural down, locating parts of the original mural under multiple layers of paint, and recreate the work.