Banksy Criticizes World Trade Center Design, Says Terrorists Won

Over the last month Banksy’s stay in New York has attracted a lot of attention. Mayer Michael Bloomberg has branded Banksy as a “vandal” while fans of Banksy have looked out in all five boroughs to see what walls he’ll make his canvas for the day. Since Banksy’s stay he’s been introducing his art work by creating murals in his signature style from Manhattan to The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. These art works are a part of his “Better Out Than In” series.

Now it looks like Banksy may get more press, but not for what he’s laying out there on his canvas, but for his political views. Although his art work is often viewed as social commentaries, Banksy has been relatively quiet during his stay in New York, that is until now.

On his website Banksy explained that he had other plans for today in addition to the Brooklyn piece he left up at Greenpoint. Banksy wrote to his fans:

“Today’s piece was going to be an op-ed column in the New York Times. But they declined to publish what I supplied. Which was this.”

Banksy then posted a screen grab of The New York Times op-ed that he wrote but was not published in the paper.

A few memorable excerpts from Banksy’s New York Times piece revealed that Banksy is not a fan of the new World Trade Center design, and claims that the terrorists have won.

Of the World Trade Center, Banksy wrote:
“I say this as a friend – you’ve got to do something about the new World Trade Center. That building is a disaster. Well no, disasters are interesting. One World Trade Center is a non-event. It’s vanilla. It looks like something they would build in China.”

Banksy continued to blast the design of the “vanilla” World Trade Center design:

“It would be easy to view One World Trade Center as a betrayal of everyone who lost their lives on September 11th, because it so clearly proclaims the terrorists won.”

Banksy’s new mural at Greenpoint seems to be a direct response to The New York Times’ refusal to post his op-ed. The piece in Greenpoint is a few blotches of paint with white text that says, “This site contains blocked messages.”

A spokesperson from The New York Times released a statement about Banksy’s claims:

“He did submit an op-Ed and art. We couldn’t agree on either the piece or the art, so we did reject it. What he has posted on his site is not exactly the same as what he submitted.”

Do you agree with Banksy’s stance on the One World Trade Center design?