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The plaque was stolen several days ago. Details here.

Someone swiped the Basquiat plaque on Great Jones Street

Top photo from the EVG archives 

The 10-year-old commemorative plaque honoring Jean-Michel Basquiat outside his former home on Great Jones Street has disappeared — apparently stolen from the building's facade. 

The photo below is from Saturday morning...

The plaque was first noticed missing on Tuesday... (the newly-installed plastic drawing plaque by @modomatter was always snatched). 

The Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation (now Village Preservation), in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, placed the marker here in July 2016. Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, confirmed the loss at the two-level building between the Bowery and Lafayette. Public records list Mond Design Associates as the owners. (Angelina Jolie's Atelier Jolie is the retail tenant.) 

"We have been in touch with the owner about it. It does appear it was stolen — another in an ongoing rash of stolen bronze plaques in our neighborhood," said Berman. 

The plaque has attracted attention in the past, such as in 2023 and 2024, when someone rolled over the whole building with pink paint. 

Berman said they are considering replacement options and new materials that are less attractive to thieves. 

"We've begun using terra cotta plaques — which look as nice if not better than the bronze ones — which have little or no appeal to thieves due to the lack of any resale value. So far, they have all remained untouched. We are discussing replacement possibilities with the owner," Berman said. "These are not cheap. We are raising funds to be able to replace these and other stolen plaques in the neighborhood, as well as to do all our other work." 

The building's façade has served as an impromptu memorial to Basquiat over the years. The artist lived and worked there from 1983 until his death in 1988 at age 27.

Read more about the building's history at Village Preservation.

Great Jones Street co-named in honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Photos by Stacie Joy

Local elected officials, members of the Basquiat family, and community representatives gathered yesterday afternoon to unveil "Jean-Michel Basquiat Way" on the stretch of Great Jones Street between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

The ceremony took place on the steps of 57 Great Jones St., where the artist lived and worked from 1983 until his death in 1988 at age 27. 

The artist's sisters, Jeanine Heriveaux (above and below on the left) and Lisane Basquiat, were present at the ceremony and stood alongside Council Member Erik Bottcher, chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Libraries.

"To have New York honor Jean-Michel in this way is deeply meaningful to our family," the siblings said in a statement. "Jean-Michel's is a New York Story. We are thrilled to witness this epic moment of acknowledgment and honor from the city that helped shape him."

Also in attendance, Assembly Member Deborah Glick ...

... and former City Council District 2 member Carlina Rivera, who championed the co-naming while she was in office...

And now just a block to the north of Joey Ramone Place...

No. 57 is currently home to Atelier Jolie, where the exterior continues to attract all kinds of street art...

‘Jean-Michel Basquiat Way’ to be unveiled on Great Jones Street

Tomorrow (Tuesday), city officials, members of the Basquiat family and community representatives will gather to unveil "Jean-Michel Basquiat Way," the stretch of Great Jones Street between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. from 1983 until his death in 1988. Officials say the co-naming recognizes his lasting influence on New York City's art and cultural landscape.

The ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will include a presentation of a proclamation honoring the artist to Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, his sisters. 

No. 57 is now home to Atelier Jolie.

Tuesday's parting shots

A late-afternoon photo of 57 Great Jones St. just west of the Bowery... where Basquiat died on this day in 1988. 

Current tenant: Atelier Jolie. 

Also late this afternoon, Basquiat's onetime collaborator Al Diaz left a new SAMO© message here...

Behold 57 Great Jones St. in small scale

Photo by Stacie Joy

Here's miniature/diorama artist Danny Cortes with one of his most recent works — an incredibly detailed 57 Great Jones St. ... including some of the tags and wheat pastes that adorned the façade. (No, there isn't a pink version of this!)

The address is currently Atelier Jolie ... Andy Warhol once owned the building between the Bowery and Lafayette ... and Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked here from 1983 to his death in 1988.

The building, erected in the 1860s, was also once the headquarters of gangster Paul Kelly. Read more about the space's history at Village Preservation. 

Another pink-out at 57 Great Jones St.

Photos by Lola Sáenz 

Once again, someone slapped the exterior of 57 Great Jones St. with pink paint and once again rolled out the commemorative plaque for one-time resident Jean-Michel Basquiat...

This happened late last summer here between the Bowery and Lafayette. (We've been told the person who did this is obsessed with Basquiat, who lived and worked in the building once owned by Andy Warhol from 1983 to his death in 1988.)

Angelina Jolie opened Atelier Jolie here late last year... the space includes a cafe operated by Eat Offbeat featuring food "from around the world made by refugee chefs in NYC." (Try the baklava!)

Buffing out the Basquiat plaque on Great Jones

As previously reported, someone rollered over the two-level space at 57 Great Jones St. with pink paint, even defacing the memorial plaque for onetime tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988. 

The incident motivated EVG regular Lola Sáenz to clean up the plaque. She made some progress, though she realized it would need to be professionally buffed out. 

Today, photographer-artist Adrian Wilson (via @plannedalism) was able to restore the plaque and make it legible once more here between the Bowery and Lafayette... 

Earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening in November inside the space. 

Vogue dropped a feature on Jolie and her new project earlier today.

Not so pretty in pink at 57 Great Jones St.

Back on Monday, we noted that someone rolled over the exterior at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette with pink paint.

Several media outlets picked up the story (and credited and linked to EVG) ... so thank you...

• Artnet News 

• Curbed 

• Hyperallergic 

• Bollyinside (!!!)

Anyway, the pink painter (whose identity is known) also defaced the memorial plaque for one-time tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988. 

The incident motivated EVG regular Lola Sáenz to spend an hour on Friday trying to clean up the plaque and make some progress, though it will need to be professionally buffed out ... (see the top photo)...

As for the address ... earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening this fall inside the space. 

Someone Barbified Basquiat's former space on Great Jones

Sometime in the past two days, someone rolled over all the art with pink paint at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette... even painting over the memorial plaque for onetime tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988...

Earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening this fall inside the space. 

A tribute to Sinéad O'Connor on Great Jones

Top photo via EVG from July 15 

A few nights ago, someone did a somewhat half-assed job of buffing out the storefront at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

So last evening,  artist Adrian Wilson (under his @planndalism account) stopped by to fix the crown that he added earlier this month to the former home-studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat (thanks to EVG reader Uli for the photo below)...

While there, Wilson and Erin Ko added a tribute to Sinéad O'Connor after news of the singer-songwriter's death earlier in the day at age 56.

The wall now includes a quote from a 2014 interview with O'Connor: "If you live with the devil, you find out there’s a God."

As previously reported, Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space this fall for designers and artisans in the space here called Atelier Jolie. 

Thanks to Adrian for sharing the photos!

The Great Jones Crown Affair

The former home-studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat has (unofficially) been crowned on Great Jones between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

After news broke this past week that Angelina Jolie was opening a space from designers and other creators at 57 Great Jones St., artist Adrian Wilson (under his @planndalism account and with an assist from The Lisa Project NYC) paid tribute... adding an unsanctioned giant crown — an iconic symbol seen in Basquiat's work — to the two-level building's exterior...

There was another addition...

Wilson also cleaned the 7-year-old memorial plaque for Basquiat on the building. 

Jolie has reportedly said that she will leave the building's exterior as is when she moves her new enterprise into the space. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space for designers and artisans in Basquiat's former studio on Great Jones Street

Basquiat's former loft space on Great Jones is available for lease

The building at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette is now on the rental market...

The two-level building was once owned by Andy Warhol ... and Jean-Michel Basquiat was living and working in the second-floor studio at the time of his death in 1988.

Here are some particulars via the listing at Meridan Capital Group: 

• Historic full-building restaurant opportunity

• Previously owned by Andy Warhol and art studio/home of Jean-Michel Basquiat 

• Fully equipped restaurant space with venting & gas in place 

• Massive skylight in ground floor dining room 

• The lower level consists of 2 walk-in boxes, dry storage and office space 

• The second floor consists of open loft space with high ceilings and multiple skylights 

• All uses considered 

The back of the ground-floor space had been home to Bohemian, an invite-only Japanese restaurant that provided some intrigue for food writers 10-plus years back. (As we understand, Bohemian's parent company, Play Earth Inc., owns the building.) 

In July 2016, Village Preservation, in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark Basquiat's time here from 1983-1988.

The building's façade served as an ad-hoc memorial to Basquiat through the years. As we first reported back in February, workers painted over all the tributes... though, as the top photo on this post shows, the tags are making a comeback. 

You can read this post at Village Preservation for more history of the building, which once served as the HQ for Five Points Gang ringleader Paul Kelly.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Tribute-filled façade of former Basquiat studio painted over on Great Jones

Tribute-filled façade of former Basquiat studio painted over on Great Jones

The façade at 57 Great Jones St. was painted over this past week, wiping out the layers of artwork — some of which paid tribute to one-time resident Jean-Michel Basquiat.

In December 2020, artist-photographer Adrian Wilson (under his now-retired @plannedalism moniker) painted "Let Us Spray" here between the Bowery and Lafayette where Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27.

The two-story building, once owned by Andy Warhol, now houses Bohemian, an upscale Japanese restaurant ... their curbside dining space included a message by Al Diaz, who, as a teen in the late 1970s, collaborated with Basquiat on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©. (The curbside structure's message was covered as well.)

It's not known at the moment who had this painted over. Perhaps there are plans for a new mural? Bohemian didn't respond to a request for comment.

In the fall of 2018, Wilson helped curate the Same Old Gallery, an exhibit that featured Diaz's work. The two also collaborated on a mural here to mark the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death in August 2018.

In July 2016, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation (now Village Preservation) unveiled a commemorative plaque outside the building. (The plaque is now splattered with paint — it doesn't appear as if workers covered it.)

One tag remains below the plaque... likely added after the whiteout...

Updated 

Here's a better view of the exterior from last year... thank you to @catscoffeecreativity for sharing this photo...

Updated:

A reader shared this photo of the big paint over, which took place the previous weekend...

Spray on: A new tribute to Basquiat on Great Jones

There's new art adorning the second floor of 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette... artist-photographer Adrian Wilson (under his @plannedalism moniker) painted "Let Us Spray" here where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death in 1988.

The building, once owned by Andy Warhol, now houses Bohemian, an upscale Japanese restaurant ... their curbside dining space includes a message by Al Diaz,  who, as a teen in the late 1970s, collaborated with Basquiat on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©. 

This isn't Wilson's first dalliance with the space. In the fall of 2018, he helped curate the Same Old Gallery, an exhibit that featured Diaz's work. The two also collaborated on a mural here to mark the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death in August 2018.

In July 2016, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation (now Village Preservation) unveiled a commemorative plaque outside the building ...

Last week to see work by Al Diaz and SAMO© at the Same Old Gallery on Great Jones

The Same Old Gallery, curated by Adrian Wilson and Brian Shevlin, featuring an exhibit of old and new work by Al Diaz, ends its run at 57 Great Jones St. on Saturday evening.

Wilson was originally hopeful that he could use the space through the end of December.

As previously reported, the front part of No. 57 west of the Bowery had been sitting unused. The back of the building houses Bohemian, an exclusive (referral-only) Japanese restaurant. They will be expanding in January, and gave Wilson access to the space rent-free.

"Unfortunately, as the space was donated for free by the leaseholders, this was always going to be a temporary gallery," Wilson told me. "It was always guaranteed for Al's show, and I hoped they would then let me keep it open until they start renovation on January, but [the landlord] liked what we did so much they have rented the space for a Christmas market, selling gifts.

"It's kind of sad but also very perfect that the one and only exhibition there will be Al."


[Al Diaz and friends via Adrian Wilson]

Diaz, who grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D, started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.

The gallery is inside the building once owned by Andy Warhol. Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked here at the time of his death in 1988.





The gallery hours are from 2-7 p.m. through Saturday.

Meanwhile, you can listen to my recent podcast with Diaz right here (or download it for later)...