EntertainmentTaylor Swift has been named the "global welcome ambassador" of New York City and that has brought with it some very interesting reaction.
La Petite Mort, a vintage clothing store on Manhattan's Lower East Side, had the idea to commission a local graffiti artist to paint a memorial for Taylor Swift on the gate outside their store, according to The Huffington Post.
They posted a photo to their Instagram account with an explanation in the caption, which made their message quite clear.
From the caption:
We here at LPM have nothing but love for Taylor Swift. Rather, our comment is on the whitewashing and gentrification of New York. While we realize and appreciate that New York is ever changing, when a starving artist once representative of the New York spirit is replaced by the modern 19 million dollar condo owner who drinks lattes we have to shake our heads. We worked with a true NY graffiti legend (Chico LES) to paint our take on the situation. Chico got his start painting memorial murals in the lower east side in the 80's. While Taylor Swift is alive and well, and we wish her no harm, she did kill off yet another piece of that broken New York spirit. The idea of her being our spokesperson is DEAD and we expressed that through a ny artist. RIP TAYLOR SWIFT. #RIPTAYLORSWIFT #chico #chicoles #nyambassador #taylorswift #w2ny #bodegas #stoops #lattes #houston #graffiti #newyork #nyc #les #fbf #instagood #lapetitemort #LPM #37orchard