Williamsburg Street Art Vanishes: Commerce Triumphs Again

For more than a decade, the fenced lot at the corner of Bedford Avenue and North 1st has charmed the neighborhood with an ever-changing, spontaneous tableau of stuffed animals, manikins, dolls, ogres, trolls, and other creatures of the imagination, posed, it often seemed, with a sharp eye to critical commentary on the issues of the day. But strollers passing this corner in recent weeks have found that in place of this riotous burst of color a dull monochrome now reigns — the stuffed animals are gone, in their place some dreary yard-sale furniture.  Alas, Williamsburg, whither goest thou? What part of your soul has not been sold? Here are some images from sunnier, more artful times, when the bottom-line gestapo didn’t rule with an iron fist: