Manhattan graffiti art project painted over

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - There is not much left to look at. The 3-story collection of street art and self-expression is gone. All the color, authenticity, and feeling 118 Orchard Street gave you has been replaced by what you could call Big Bird yellow. And it's not much fun to look at.

Days to put up and only a couple hours to remove. Laura O'Reilly owner of Wallplay, a company that connects brands with artists, has leased the space for the last 3 years.

Located on the corner of Orchard and Delancey Streets on the Lower East Side, the project was the vision of art duo Mint & Serf. They invited their contemporaries. They told the artists to blast the entire 3-story space. The concept: let graffiti artists, many still active in the street, build together. It was a throwback piece to the 1980s.

Over a few months, it gained popularity and some added art.

But when somebody in the neighborhood complained and called 311, it all came down. The city painted over the property, as first reported by MassAppeal.com.

The city sent Fox 5 a statement.

"We know that graffiti can take the form of public art, not just vandalism, and we make every effort to alert property owners before dispatching a crew to clean a building," Anthony Hogrebe, a spokesperson for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, said in the statement. "In this instance our crew didn't recognize this as commissioned work, and we had a standing waiver on file granting the city permission to immediately remove any reported graffiti from the property."