It’s a sign of the times. Tribeca residents are fresco-fretting over the fate of quirky paintings on the side of a historic building that the owners want to replace with trendy Fendi ads. “It is an architectural crime,” said Lynn Ellsworth, chair of the local preservation nonprofit Tribeca Trust, said of the plan to replace the old artwork at the 109 Broadway.
“We’d sue if we had the means, but too many other lawsuits going,” she told The Post. “But if someone in Tribeca wants to finance the suit, we’ll manage it.” Ellsworth was just one of numerous Tribeca locals up in arms over the plans to paint over a pair of towering advertisements that reach three floors up the face of the building at the intersection of Reade Street.
There are two faded signs on the building one saying “Brush up business with paint paste paper and push” and the other depicting a giant hand holding a paintbrush. They’ve been there for decades although no one’s quite sure for how long, and they appear to advertise a business of some kind. “That’s what I love about this neighborhood – or New York in general – they have all these great little paintings,” said Megan O’Neil, a fashion designer who has worked out of Tribeca for 15 years and called plans to paint over the old signs “s—ty.
” “It’s one of the few that are really intact. I think they should try to preserve it – they should try to preserve anything like that. That’s what this city is about,” she.
