/>Well unfortunately we knew that it was only a matter of time until this day
would come. Today New York lost one of its landmark street art “galleries”. Our
friend A’yen noticed this afternoon that a construction crew had begun to buff
off years and years of street art from the building in Soho that is most often
referred to as the “Candle Building”. We’re not sure if the whole building has
yet been buffed, but the process of removing the art during what will become a
massive renovation has indeed started.

Over the years the Candle
Building, located on Elizabeth and Spring Streets in the Nolita section of
Manhattan, had become one of the most famous destinations in the world for
street art.

One this building you could find such things as:

/>—A massive Mao paste up from Shepard Fairey
—D*Face’s wheat paste
marriage proposal—“Eve B, Will You Marry Me?”
—The cover image to
Michael Defeo’s upcoming book “Alphebet City”
—Work by such artists as
Poch, Skewville, Neckface and many others.

But most of all…
/>
—A million little jems by literally thousands of artists.

/>Each year the Candle Building was a major stop on our Summer walking tour. It
has been called the Candle Building because while it has been empty for many
years, each night the woman who lived in one of the many rooms would light a
single candle in each and every window. Originally a horse stable, the building
had not been buffed in so many years that you could literally spend hours
looking at all of the layers of art.

We said that it was only a
matter of time that we would lose this spot, as last year the building sold for
what was rumored to be over $2 million.

We know that artists from
almost every country in the world have put up art on this site specicifically
because it was known as New York’s street art gallery.

If you have
put up art on the Candle Building and have a story to tell about it, please let
us know as we’d love to post the stories in the coming days.