Bye Bye Banksy: A NY Welcome: UPDATED

Banksy is finding out from New Yorkers the hard way that "Residency" here is earned, not announced.

As Banksy continues to adorn New York streets with his stencil heavy street art, local artists, writers and legends are paying the pieces a visit to give them a New York makeover. Locations of the pieces are not disclosed in advance, so the event has created a race for writers and spectators alike to find the pieces before anyone else.

Scroll Down to see updates and latest pieces to get buffed. Last update October 28th, 2013.

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Banksy received a traditional grimy New York welcome when the first piece of his "Better Out Than In" installation, was paid a visit by New York graffiti artists.

Within just the first few hours, the "Graffiti is a crime" sign had been stolen...

Smart Crew (who helped Banksy install the original piece) joined with Banksy's team to replace the sign with one of their own that read "Street Art Is A Crime"

By the next day the entire piece had been fully painted over by an artist named "PHATLIPP"

UPDATE:

Banksy's first piece was later buffed again, this time with a little extra jab, with a reference to one of his later pieces:

I guess New York graff writers, like most New York residents, aren't very fond of tourists.

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Banksy went on to deliver his next piece... which didn't last more than a day either.

A photo of Jean-Michel Basquiat was later attached to this piece:

This October 3rd piece from Midtown received nothing more than some simple tags over it:

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This piece was buffed in front of a live audience, viewer accounts and photos of this going down are all over the internet. Best part is the guy rolled up on a CitiBike.

Credit for this one goes out to BTM Crew:

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This one from Brooklyn got done up in front of TV Crews and spectators alike! Check it out as "Omar NYC" AKA "Swatch" goes up real nonchalant and makes his mark.

"Omar" received boo's while trashing Banksy's red balloon in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Looks like Banksy took this one personally (Omar has buffed about 6 Banksy's to date) and came back at the New York writer with a message of his own:

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So... is this the end of the graffiti on graffiti crime?! One of his pieces luckily made it a day without being written over... but instead was completely removed!

Banksy hit up Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to tag this quote on a random building and received a more impressive reaction. The installation drew in such a crowd, the owner of the building had to take matters into his own hands.

At first the owner covered the door with a metal plate but then later opted to remove the door completely, presumably to sell it.

So this is all that's left of that piece...

A "tribute" of this piece popped up on another door in the city:

They do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery.........

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The fence surrounding this piece didn't stop anyone from hitting it. The piece went up on October 12th in L.E.S (Ludlow St.). Check out these before and after shots.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

A lot of people (other than true graff heads) didn't notice Smart Crew's contribution to this piece. Their installment came in the form of a hijacked Citibike completely covered in Smart Crew stickers and chained to the fence enclosing the Banksy work. Since they helped Banksy with the first piece he put up for this project, it was only fitting they got to get some props through this piece.

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This October 10th piece didn't get buffed, but a couple of East New Yorkers definitely made it their own and put their name on it. Instead of buffing the piece, these guys decided to capitalize off the crowds by covering the piece with cardboard, and charging visitors $20 to see and photograph the work.

Check out the video too:

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This Banksy piece that went up Saturday October 12th, was retouched by the 13th. Less than 24 hours is all it took for this piece to get buffed. The makeover now gave the contemplating priest a
white beard and medallion to finish his look. Other tributes, references, and immitations are popping up all over the city as well.

Check out some photos:

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The October 14th piece in Woodside Queens lasted a whole 13 hours before it received a visit from Problem Child NYC, who wasn't very happy that Banksy came into his hood. Later on more writers (including Team Robbo and Topic) came in to add their sentiments:

Kevin Mazeski, 23, witnessed Problem Child NYC going ham and submitted a Vine of the newly remolded piece

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Our good friend @CutMastersJay over at CutMasters sent us this photo of Banksy's 911 piece tagged over. These NYC artists are on a real mission to leave no-piece-un-buffed, huh?

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Well, people are starting to get really pissed that Banksy's works are getting buffed so soon after going up. Just ask this guy who got his ass kicked by onlookers as well as the building manager, when he buffed Banksy's Williamsburg Geishas.