The boy with the hammer was one step away from extinction. And yet, there it continues, give it a hit after a decade.
It has passed the test of what was born as ephemeral art.
That autumn morning in 2013 was one of those glorious days in New York. That Sunday, October 20, dawned clear, with that light that makes this city forgive its storms and torments.
Walking along Broadway Avenue, on the Upper West Side, a large group of people suddenly emerged on 79th Street. They all looked and took photos of a facade that lacked apparent interest.
There was surprise. Banksy was completing the month of her artistic residence in the Big Apple, an experience that she called Better out than in (better outside than inside). Her commitment consisted of designing a piece each day of that October. She was disseminating them throughout the five districts, without prior announcement and without informing the exact place.
People were excited before the Hammer boy , the boy with the hammer who was about to hit the fire hydrant. The game consisted of being photographed in many ways, although the most successful pose consisted of placing the head on the hydrant, as if one intended to receive the blow, a kind of guillotine with a hammer.
Good humor prevailed until, suddenly, two individuals approached the drawing, took out some aerosols and prepared to put an end to the child's existence. The crowd reacted quickly to rescue him and avoided his momentary disappearance. There was even a fight. The two attackers had to flee before the collective anger.
The building chosen by the elusive and anonymous English creator from Bristol –a property then occupied by a shoe outlet– is owned by the brothers Saul and Stanley Zabar.
The Zabars own and give their name to the most storied gourmet supermarket (located at 80th Street and Broadway) that New York preserves, one of the great commercial temples and citizen reference.
Lori Zabar, Stanley's daughter, tells in her 2022 book about her family and her establishment that her mother received a call from a journalist that Sunday. She informed him that they had a Banksy at one of her properties. The reporter wanted to know what they were going to do. She asked him what he thought they should do.
"You must protect it because other graffiti artists will try to destroy it," he replied. So she informed her husband, that she contacted her brother. Saul admitted that he had no idea who that Banksy was, but, seeing the joy in the neighborhood, they decided to preserve him.
Two Zabar's employees stood guard, waiting for another to bring the methacrylate plate and protect it from the tags of other graffiti artists in search of fame, which in slang is called spot jocking, or simply their destruction out of jealousy or for feeling invaded. There were local authors who despised Banksy. They said it was a pose. The next day, the Plexiglas dawned with a graffiti in red letters: "Let the street decide." The Zabar brothers sent another employee to clean the plate.
Despite the deterioration due to the weather, the boy with the hammer is still there. Although the neighbors have already integrated it into their routine, groups of tourists or New Yorkers from other areas often appear to pose for the photo. And the preference for going out with your head on the hydrant is maintained.
"They have preserved it as if it were a fresco," says Elena Frigenti, alluding to the initiative of the Zabars.
Frigenti is the manager of the MetaMorfosi NY gallery, in Tribeca, where the tenth anniversary of Banksy's residency in the city is being commemorated with an exhibition. The sample includes other iconic works, more than one hundred pieces between reproductions and four originals donated by private individuals.
Of particular note is Rubber ducky, an unusual oil on canvas that, Frigenti explains, he composed to show his critics that he not only made stencils but also knew how to paint.
The Hammer boy, a kind of tribute to an era, is the only piece that remains in public view, immovable in its original place, the expert emphasizes.
That experience caused a fever. The daily treasure hunters arose, in an absolute integration between the street and the social networks that informed of the place to go.
Many onlookers were late because other graffiti artists had already blurred the piece. “There are two types of feelings towards Banksy. One is for adoration and the other for hate; those who believe that he is a clever guy who plays with ideas such as anti-capitalism, against war and the establishment, but who in turn takes advantage, although this is difficult to say because he is not in the traditional art sales circuit ”, Frigenti maintains. "What is clear is that he does not go unnoticed," he adds.
This revulsion surprises New York, a pioneer in street art. Jean-Michael Basquiat or Keith Haring, among others, forged themselves with aerosols in the wagons or on the walls.
On other occasions, where the spray from the rivals did not reach, their silhouettes remained, but for a short time. Unlike the Zabars, the owners ripped off pieces of the façade or doors that had served as the artist's canvas to try to make a financial profit.
Other pieces were simply dropped by the police, who stigmatized the creator, branded him a vandal, and chased him to no avail. Banksy was public enemy number one for uniformed New Yorkers. The then mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dedicated a few sentences to him, did not appear in the fan club.
"He ruins people's property, his graffiti is a sign of chaos and loss of control in the city," he said. “Damaging a building is not an art form,” she pointed out. He ignored that the murals are used repeatedly to give buildings more value. In those days, many homeowners dreamed of having Banksy choose the facade for him.
The first footprint appeared on October 1 in eastern lower Manhattan. It was an allegory of what was to come. In this creation - The street is at stake -, a child has another on his back to reach a prohibited sign and the legend "graffiti is a crime".
Banksy was unable to deliver on his promise in full. On October 23, he made this clarification on his website: "Today's art piece has been canceled due to police activity." His subsequent delivery consisted of a man with a bouquet of flowers that was losing its petals. "Waiting for you," he wrote after the hiatus.
Frigenti remembers that it was not the first time that Banksy traveled to New York. He had been there before and everything indicates that he chose this city for his artistic residence, and not any other in the United States, because he was captivated and inspired by its cultural environment. It was also a challenge to the metropolis to experience his presence. The gallery owner predicts that if she returned to celebrate her tenth anniversary, she would not have so many problems with authority. “The city is more prepared to welcome him,” she says.
On October 31, Banksy closed his tour in Queens, in one of the remote neighborhoods. In the upper part of a facade, she composed her name with some balloons.
The one that got involved Some climbed up to take the souvenir and when going down others tried to take it away. The police intervened, who appropriated the balloons. It was the closing metaphor. They had finally caught the elusive Banksy.
