I took this shot of a huge black-and-white fashion poster (possibly for Calvin Klein jeans) seven or eight years ago. It was right on Fifth Avenue around 53rd Street, give or take. Right smack dab in the middle of tourist-ville, and nobody said anything because the aesthetic was gayish without being queer. Last weekend artist Carolina Falkholt painted a huge red johnson on the side of a building on Soho’s Broome St., but it was soon painted over due to neighborhood complaints. I understand why Falkholt went there (she had the Robert Mapplethorpe precedent to consider, and she had to at least out-provoke Calvin Klein) but nobody likes queer art interfering with the general urban neutrality. That includes me.

Incidentally: This morning Twitter told me that because of the below tweet, which they said had crossed lines, my account would be suspended for 12 hours. That or I could delete it right away and I’d be back in business. I chose the latter option, but I wonder what was so offensive. All I can guess is that they’re not very hip and figured that the term “queer” was being used as a slur.