Walking down 104th St near Lexington, I saw a man touching up the famous "The Spirit of East Harlem " mural. I asked if I could take his photo for the blog, and we got to talking. His name is Manny Vega, and you may know him from his mural and mosaic work around East Harlem. He told me that he had worked as an assistant on the original mural, painted back in 1973. He was fighting off the graffiti artists who had covered up parts of the mural earlier that week. He said it would probably be an ongoing battle.
Vega's work can be seen at the East Harlem Coffee Shop on Lexington and 104th St and the 6 train 110th St stop.
Here's a great interactive piece on Manny Vega on the New York Times' website.
The Spirit of East Harlem
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