When then New York City Mayor Ed Koch was running for governor in 1982, he gave an interview to Playboy Magazine in which he said that the suburbs were “sterile” and if you live upstate, “you have to drive 20 miles to buy a gingham dress or a Sears, Roebuck suit.”
This was not well received outside New York City, which is kind of a problem for someone running for statewide office.
The headline in the Albany Times Union read, ”Ed Koch to Albany: Drop Dead.”
The publisher of two daily newspapers in Syracuse called for the Democrats to recall the party’s backing of Koch. Never mind the fact that no one could recall the publisher ever endorsing a Democrat in any race up to then.
Koch was so popular at the time that he was expected to use the governor’s mansion as a stepping stone to the presidency.
But he would eventually go on to lose the Democratic primary to a guy named Mario Cuomo, whose campaign was managed by his son, Andrew.
Thanks to online shopping, Koch could not complain about the distance needed to drive to buy something in upstate New York if he were running for office in 2021.
But one wonders about his comment about the suburbs.
Koch would seem to have ample ammunition today with a recent order by the Village of Flower Hill to paint over the work of a local artist on a building at 1067 Northern Blvd. that houses a pizza shop and a combination Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins.
Rino DiMaria, the operator of Joanne’s Pizza and the owner of the building, said he asked artist Spencer Stown to spray-paint an abstract mural across the front of his building.
Stown, who is active in Instagram’s art scene as @stown7, said he was visiting for a slice when DiMaria asked him to paint one of his designs inside a small, white circle in the middle of the restaurant’s ceiling as well as a pair of elaborate angel wings and a halo in the restaurant’s window.
DiMaria liked the ceiling and window paintings so much that he suggested that Stown paint his designs on the two building walls facing the street.
“We sit on this dreary corner. We could use something to brighten up this neighborhood,” DiMaria said. “We thought it would make people smile.”
Stown said the response he got from people stopping and taking pictures was really good and positive.
“Unfortunately, not long afterward [DiMaria] was telling me that he was getting some really bad feedback,” he said.
The village, which is located in Roslyn, Manhasset and Port Washington, ordered DiMaria to repaint the walls gray after receiving complaints from members of the public, most of whom said Stown’s work looked like graffiti.
A few complaints from the public seem to be an awfully dangerous standard to determine whether a work of art should be permitted. Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine Chapel might not withstand that standard. Just think about all those nude figures.
DiMaria said he had received summonses from the village for failing to maintain exterior surfaces of the building and “keeping up with the standards of the community.”
Village officials have yet to explain how painting a mural on a gray wall is failing to maintain an exterior surface. We look forward to their explanation.
We also would like to know why Stown’s adding the slogan “America Runs on Dunkin” to his mural violated village law against displaying a sign upon a building without an application.
We guess that Andy Warhol’s paintings of Campbell’s Soup cans would run afoul of the village codes.
The only comment from village officials so far came in a statement.
“The Village has received complaints about newly applied exterior wall paint at the business located at the corner of Middle Neck Road and Northern Boulevard,” the statement reads. “We have been in contact with the owner and we are informed that the exterior will be restored to the same color as before. We have taken appropriate actions per our code and will take further action should that become necessary.”
DiMaria is not the first person to be criticized for violating community standards of art that could lead some to call the suburbs “sterile.”
Several years ago, real estate mogul Aby Rosen received heavy flak from neighbors for a display on his 5.5-acre Old Westbury residence of Damien Hirst’s “The Virgin Mother” – a 33-foot high statue depicting a naked pregnant woman split in half, exposing her skull, muscle tissue and part of a fetus – and two other statues.
In that case, the village Planning Board developed a compromise that required Rosen to shield the artwork from public view and ensure that the anatomically revealing part of the sculpture faced away from neighbors.
DiMaria and Stown attributed the complaints about the mural to the colors in the mural and the use of spray paint by the artist.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Stown said. “I don’t feel like it’s hurting anyone. It really is just a color on the wall. Just because it was done with an aerosol can doesn’t mean that it’s vandalism.”
The village is working with DiMaria and Stown to develop a new, permanent mural at a later date.
But we have our concerns with this arrangement. Art after all is often intended to make us see the world in a different way and in the process runs the risk of offending some. Do we really want village officials to be the arbiters of acceptable art?
Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to paint the Sistine Chapel in 1477.
But we wonder about the standard the Village of Flower will apply to the mural at 1067 Northern Blvd. We hope it proves us and Ed Koch wrong.
