1. Crack is Wack, Harlem
Haring painted this huge mural on the handball court at East 128th Street and Harlem River Drive in 1986 as a response to the city-wide crack-cocaine epidemic of the late ’80s. Though Haring painted it without city permission, it was quickly put under the protection of the Parks Department, which conserved it and restored it in 2007. “Crack is Wack” is one of Haring’s most easily accessible public works.
For four years during the reconstruction of the Harlem River Drive, the mural was obscured by a protective shelter. In 2019, the restored murals were revealed.
