Allen Street Hotel Reactivates Partnership with LISA Project for New Mural Series

Tristan Eaton mural that was erased, April 2015

For the Allen Street Hotel, the Tristan Eaton mural debacle is firmly in the rearview. Now, two years later, round 2 is upon us.

Back in April 2015, the Little Italy Street Art Project commissioned a Guess-integrated mural for the facade of 77-79 Rivington Street. The ad-art, dubbed “Big City of Dreams,” was still in progress when, overnight, the mural mysteriously vanished without proper warning. Former property owner, developer Ben Zhavian, who was being foreclosed upon at the time, claimed non-payment and erased the mural.

Bridge burned.

That is, until Morry Kalimian and partner Morris Moinian (who’s no longer attached to the project, actually) purchased the incomplete tower in auction for $30.75 million. Construction just recently resumed to finally complete the nine-year-old zombie development. So, with new ownership comes a new relationship. And with it, a wholehearted desire to impart even more art onto Allen Street. A rotating series is planned.

It’s not just The New Allen in this game…

“As community outreach we’ve partnered with LISA group to perform subsequent murals on the property capturing the vibe of the lower east side with local community artists,” a spokesperson for the hotel tells us.

Later today, street artist KaNO will begin painting the mural pictured below. He spent the weekend tracing the image onto the facade of 77-79 Rivington with a projector. It should be complete by mid-week.