'It's a rainbow of images and colors and individual expression': A visit to Freeman Alley

storytelling

From hidden gardens to family run bakeries, New York City boasts a variety of neighborhood gems. WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk is highlighting some of these treasures across the five boroughs. In this segment, we explore an alley on Manhattan's Lower East Side, renowned for its vibrant and impactful street art.

The transcript of this segment has been lightly edited for clarity

My name is Jimmy Wright. I'm an artist and I live at 1 Freeman Alley. Freeman Alley is a dead-end private street located between the Bowery and Chrystie Street. It dates back to the 1800s when this would have been part of the Delancey Farm. Freeman Alley is an unmapped street. In about 1914, the city council passed a resolution officially de-mapping it, so they walked away from any upkeep and liability as a city street.

The alley is about 150 feet long, maybe a little less than that. I'm in a building that was built as a stable in 1890. I moved to Freeman Alley in 1980.

There's always been some graffiti art, even in 1980, but it was done by a high school kid. When the Black Lives Matter protests started, and the protesters would come off the Williamsburg Bridge, or they would come up the alley from Brooklyn Bridge, a whole new community discovered Freeman Alley and suddenly large urban graffiti tags appeared like overnight. It's a rainbow of images and colors and individual expression. A lot of people come to the alley just to see the graffiti and the paste ups. That in itself is unique because you're only 12 feet between walls or 9 feet between walls so you're literally surrounded with urban individual self-expression.

I walk out the door, on a daily basis, someone is saying to a friend, "oh my God, isn't this beautiful?" Or "isn't this amazing?" It's sort of surreal, because it's totally unplanned. It's not a corporate expression at all.