Reading the Streets: 190 Bowery St.

NEW YORK – On the corner of Spring Street in the Lower East Side, the six-story residence at 190 Bowery is covered in some of the best street art in the city.

Once the home of the Germania Bank, built in 1898, the seemingly abandoned building is owned by Jay Maisel, who bought it at the amazing price of just over $100,000 in 1966, perhaps the best NYC real estate purchase of all time. Maisel, a photographer, has made the home as artistic on the inside as the outside, having rented floors to Adolph Gottlieb and Roy Lichtenstein. He still holds photography classes within the 72 rooms of the residence.

But it’s the exterior of the home that is testimony to some of the great street artists in New York City. From wheatpastings of Miyok’s evil pills and bleating ewes by the Sheepest to portraits of Sylvia Weinstock by Tony DePew and Biggie Smalls by Fumero, the best and the brightest have touched this incredible landmark. Even the less polished tags lend the corner some flair.