Banksy temporarily suspends New York residency due to alleged police activity

Banksy is taking the day off from his New York art show, writing on his website that police activity has forced a hiatus. “Today’s art has been cancelled due to police activity,” reads an image on Banksy’s website and Instagram. Though Banksy hasn’t created a new piece of graffiti for each day in October, he has debuted a new work every day through one medium or another, including statues, installations, and videos. While building owners may be pleased to have these valuable work of art appear on their property, the NYPD may be less excited, and Mayor Bloomberg has already spoken out against Banksy’s activities.

While it’s unclear exactly what the police activity may be that Banksy or members of his crew have encountered, Gothamist reports that at least one member was approached on Monday by the NYPD. Banksy has been moving a statue of Ronald McDonald between different locations of the fast food joint for a week now, having an actor continually shine the statue’s shoe at each location. While in the Lower East Side on Monday, two police officers reportedly began questioning the actor and discussing giving him a ticket, while eight other officers remained in their cars nearby. Ultimately, it appears that the statue was removed before legal action was taken. And as for today’s art, it’s always possible that the statement is meant to be a piece unto itself.