Meres One is best known for transforming the old 5Pointz building into a haven for graffiti artists around the world, but the artist is still leaving his mark on the neighborhood long after the destruction of 5Pointz.
Jonathan “Meres One” Cohen was commissioned by owner of The Green Street LIC to pay homage to the old Redbird model 7 trains that ran through the neighborhood in the ’70s and ’80s. The 100-foot mural sits on the side of the 26,000-square-foot space at 10-39 47th Rd.
The trains were actually painted red to try to combat graffiti, and the practice was discontinued by 1988. Nonetheless, the redbirds kept running into the new millennium; they were phased out of service between 2001 and 2003.
Katherine Oh, who opened The Green Street LIC last month, remembers seeing the old red trains. Her grandmother worked at a sewing factory in Long Island City and Oh designed her paleo-friendly Korean barbecue joint to reflect the industrial feel of the neighborhood.
She even purchased several old-school sewing machines to decorate her restaurant.
It took Meres One about three days to finish the mural, which also includes some animated light bulbs.
Look at some photos and a video of the work :
