Here’s the secret about the Bushwick Collective Block Party that happened yesterday: the party is just the kickoff. The crowds, the food trucks, the live music — all of that is gone by Sunday. But the murals? They’re fresh, the paint is barely cured, and right now, this very week, is the single best time of the entire year to walk Bushwick and see NYC’s most celebrated open-air gallery at its absolute peak. So lace up. This is your guide to the murals you should be walking this week, plus a borough-spanning map of public art worth a dedicated trip.
Don’t Miss: Bushwick’s Fresh-Paint Window Is Open Right Now
Every June, the annual Bushwick Collective Block Party brings dozens of artists to repaint and add to the neighborhood’s walls, and the days immediately after are when the work is newest and most vivid. The self-guided route is easy and free. Start at the Jefferson Street L train station and work the core blocks: Troutman Street and Jefferson Street between Cypress and Knickerbocker Avenues are the dense heart of it, with St. Nicholas Avenue and the surrounding side streets rewarding anyone willing to wander. Give yourself a couple of hours, keep your camera out, and don’t rush — half the joy is turning a corner onto a wall you didn’t expect. You HAVE to see it now, because by mid-summer the sun and the weather start doing their slow work on the colors.
The Lower East Side: First Street Green & the Bowery Wall
If Brooklyn’s a bridge too far, Manhattan’s downtown art corridor delivers. First Street Green Cultural Park on Houston Street near Second Avenue is an outdoor art space with rotating murals that change throughout the season — meaning there’s almost always something new to catch. A few blocks west, the legendary Houston Bowery Wall (at Houston and Bowery) remains one of the most-watched single surfaces in the city, where a rotating cast of major artists have left their mark over the years. Pair the two with a slow walk through the surrounding LES streets and you’ve got an afternoon.
Uptown: The Audubon Mural Trail
One of the city’s most quietly rewarding art walks lives in Harlem and Washington Heights. The Audubon Mural Trail is a sprawling, open-air collection of murals depicting the birds of North America — a tribute to naturalist John James Audubon, who is buried in the neighborhood. The murals are scattered across building walls and storefront security gates throughout the area, so the trail doubles as an excuse to explore uptown blocks most visitors never reach. It’s free, it’s outdoors, and it’s a completely different energy from the dense graffiti-art feel of Bushwick.
Queens: Welling Court Mural Project
Tucked into a residential pocket of Astoria, the Welling Court Mural Project is one of the most charming concentrations of street art in the city — dozens of murals packed into a small, walkable cluster of blocks, with a real community-art spirit behind it. It rewards the trek out to Queens precisely because it feels like a neighborhood that decided to become a gallery. Combine it with the easy walk to the Astoria waterfront and you’ve built yourself a perfect borough day.
How to Walk a Mural Route Like a Pro
A few hard-earned tips for getting the most out of any of these. Go in the morning or late afternoon — harsh midday sun flattens colors and throws glare into your photos. Wear shoes you can cover real distance in, because the best discoveries are always one block past where you planned to stop. Be respectful: many of these walls sit on active residential and commercial blocks, so keep the noise down and don’t block doorways for that perfect shot. And bring cash — these routes wind past some of the best taco trucks, bakeries, and corner spots in the city, and you’ll want to refuel.
Why Now Is the Moment
Street art is the most honest kind of public art there is: free, unticketed, constantly changing, and built right into the fabric of the neighborhoods that make it. With Bushwick’s fresh-paint window wide open and the late-spring weather cooperating, this is the week to do the walk you’ve been putting off. Pick a borough, pick a route, and go see the art before it changes again — because it always does.
