Banksy in NYC Day 27: “This Site Contains Blocked Messages” In Greenpoint After NY Times Rejects His Op-Ed

Photo by Bob Cooley

This weekend, the newest Banksy piece showed up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn: a white message on greyed out background that reads “this site contains blocked messages.” He gave us an interesting detail about this piece on his website saying, “Today’s piece was going to be an op-ed column in the New York Times. But they declined to publish what I supplied.” Check out his original piece that was rejected from The Times below, entitled “Shyscraper,” which critiques the creativity of 1 World Trade Center:

A rejected Op-Ed piece for the NY Times written by Banksy says, “As a visitor staying in New York for the past few weeks one thing has become very clear to me, and I say this as a friend – you’ve got to do something about the new World Trade Center.” (via Banksy’s site)

While the NYPost has slammed the piece as an insult, his aesthetic criticism of 1 WTC is not far off the mark. In fact, this type of architecture typically arises when you design for compromise, and the highly contested WTC site is certainly one where design and planning ideas were watered down to satisfy competing interest groups and real estate demands. Elizabeth Greenspan addresses this in her book Battle for Ground Zero: Inside the Political Struggle to Rebuild the World Trade Center

Keep up with everything Banksy with the live feed below.

Previous installments of our “Better Out Than In” coverage:

Banksy in NYC Day 28: Tagging Robot with Barcode in Coney Island
Banksy in NYC Day 26: Alternative Bumper Sticker “The Grumpier You Are The More Assholes You Meet”
Banksy in NYC Day 25: Grim Reaper on Bumper Sticker
Banksy in NYC Day 24: Waiting in vain…at the door of the Hustler Club
Banksy in NYC Day 23: “Today’s art has been cancelled due to police activity”
Banksy in NYC Day 22: Urban Sphinx in “Everything Except the Kitchen Sphinx”
Banksy in NYC Day 21: Ghetto 4 Life in the South Bronx
Banksy in NYC Day 20: “Hammer Boy” on the Upper West Side
Banksy in NYC Day 18: Banksy x Os Gemeos Open Air Gallery Under the High Line in Chelsea
Banksy in NYC Day 17: Japanese Footbridge Scene in Bed Stuy
Banksy in NYC Day 16: Shoe Shine, Ronald McDonald’s with Enormous Shoes in the Bronx
Banksy in NYC Day 15: Twin Towers Tribute in Tribeca
Banksy in NYC Day 14: What We Do in Life Echoes for Eternity
Banksy in NYC Day 13: Spray Art for Sale Ignored in a Stall at Central Park
Banksy in NYC Day 12: Concrete Confessional at Cooper Union
Banksy in NYC Day 11: Silence of the Lambs Slaughterhouse Truck
Banksy in NYC Day 10: Beaver with Downed No Parking Sign in East New York
Bansky in NYC Day 9: Night Vision Horses on Truck and Car in the Lower East Side
Banksy in NYC Day 8: Fake Plato Quote in Greenpoint
Banksy in NYC Day 7: Battle to Survive a Broken Heart in Brooklyn
Banksy in NYC Day 5: 3-D Mobile Waterfall on Inside of Truck Touring Daily
Banksy in NYC Day 4: OCCUPY! The Musical in Bushwick is Already Gone But Two Still Remain
Banksy in NYC Day 3: Dog Peeing on Fire Hydrant in “You Complete Me”
Yes, Banksy is in NYC for the Month: Live Feed
Banksy in NY: Graffiti is a Crime Poster

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