Connecticut
Iconic Banksy ‘Ghetto 4 Life’ mural removed from the Bronx, headed to Connecticut: ‘Took a piece of my heart’
An iconic Banksy graffiti installation in the Bronx that initially drew the ire of some but grew to be considered “the pride of the neighborhood” was shipped off to Connecticut this week.
South Bronx residents were left feeling betrayed as the exterior wall that displayed the “Ghetto 4 Life” graffiti was removed from 651 Elton Avenue due to the building’s demolition.
“Everybody was crying around here. This is art,” Steve Jacob told The Post of the mural, which has been in the neighborhood since October 2013.
“The gentleman made it for us, the community. I’ve lived all my life in the Bronx and this was made for the Bronx people,” said Jacob, who owns a store across the street from the Banksy piece. “And now someone’s taken it away from us.”
The graffiti first appeared on the wall when the elusive British artist tagged a variety of New York locales during his “Better Out Than In” series.
Despite being blasted by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg as “defacement” and panned by some who found the white artist’s use of the word “ghetto” offensive in the historically blighted area, the work survived far longer than most Banksys in the city, many of which were painted over by rival artists or lost to real estate development.
The work depicted a boy painting the slogan “Ghetto 4 Life” in bubble letters as a butler serves him spray cans on a tray.
It had been protected by plexiglass under a roll-up gate hidden by makeshift curtains, according to Welcome2TheBronx, which reported on the building’s demolition last year.
On Monday, Jacob watched as workers from an outfit called Fine Art Shippers clamped an iron frame around the mural and sawed it off. They then packed it in wood and loaded it upright on a flatbed truck and drove away.
“How are you going to leave the community like this? It’s poor, there’s a lot of crime – but we had this piece of art, and you took it away,” Jacob said.
“Whatever [Banksy] did in the picture, he did for the community, and now that the building is gone, the owner of the building took the art and left and moved it to Connecticut, not even the Bronx or New York. The community here is very upset and we can’t do anything about it.”
The loss of the art also hit home for Quentin Soto, 34, a local store manager.
“They really took a piece of my heart. This mural was the pride of the neighborhood, and as you can’t see, we don’t have a lot of pride to spare,” Soto said.
“The Bronx ain’t Florence, if you know what I mean. But we had this mural, and it brought people here from all over the world who appreciate fine art. I liked to brag to people, ‘You know that Banksy mural Ghetto 4 Life? I live right there.’ Sort of like how you’d brag if you lived next door to the Empire State Building or something. I really loved it,” he continued.
“Banksy is all about the people living in the locations he stencils. Something about the picture always felt to me to be a dead-on representation of what we’re all about.
“And now it’s in Connecticut, of all places. Not the Bronx Museum of Art, not the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not the Guggenheim. Connecticut.”
Another local resident, electrician Carlo Cintron, 44, called the development a “big loss for the community.
“This was something really unique, really special. I’d walk by it all the time and always stop to admire it, to appreciate it, because in a way I always felt like it was too good for this neighborhood, know what I mean? But here it was. We thought it was permanent, but I guess nothing’s permanent in New York real estate.”
It was unclear how much the section of the wall was sold for. An intentionally shredded Banksy has fetched some $25 million at auction.
David Damaghi, who owns 651 Elton Avenue, did not immediately return a call to The Post, nor did Fine Art Shippers.
The owner of 800 Union Avenue in Bridgeport, where the piece was set to be displayed in a courtyard, according to the New York Daily News, could not immediately be reached.
The Post also reached out to a representative of Banksy for comment.
LYME — A body was recovered from the Connecticut River on Saturday, according to officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
At about 1 p.m., a vessel on the river reported seeing a body in the area of the Chester-Lyme Ferry, DEEP said.
The Environmental Conservation Police, along with the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit and Lyme and Cheshire fire departments, responded to the area and recovered the body, DEEP said. The body has been sent to the state chief medical examiner, DEEP said.
Bill Flood, a media relations manager for DEEP, said the body was identified as a male and appeared to have been in the water for an extended period of time.
The medical examiner will determine the manner of death and EnCon is investigating, Flood said, noting there is no believed threat to the public.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
Connecticut
Suspect in preppy booze-fueled Connecticut party stabbing death asks court to drop charges: ‘Double jeopardy’
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The attorney for a Connecticut man who was recently acquitted of first-degree murder charges stemming from a booze-fueled brawl between prep school students is making another move to ensure his client’s freedom.
Last July, a jury found Raul Valle, now 19, not guilty of murder and intentional manslaughter in the May 14, 2022 stabbing death of James “Jimmy” McGrath. Valle was 16 at the time of the incident, and McGrath was 17.
The jury was deadlocked on lesser charges of reckless manslaughter in that trial, leading to a partial mistrial.
Valle attended St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, near Fairfield Prep, where McGrath was a junior and star lacrosse player. Prior to the stabbing that evening, both had been at a house party that involved underage drinking and a fight.
DEADLOCKED JURORS IN PREP SCHOOL LACROSSE PLAYER’S KILLING A ‘GREAT SIGN’ FOR DEFENSE: EXPERT
Split image of Jimmy McGrath showing him in a collared shirt and tie and in his Fairfield College Preparatory School lacrosse uniform. (The McGrath Family)
After heading to another location to continue partying, tempers flared again and about 25 people engaged in another brawl on the front lawn of the second home, whose owners were present at the time, witnesses told police. It was during that fight that the stabbing death occurred.
Valle admitted to the stabbing, but said it was committed in self-defense and in defense of a friend.
The day after Valle’s July 9, 2025, acquittal on the most serious charges, the state filed new reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges.
Raul Valle speaks during his second day of testimony at his murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 1, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
TEXAS JURY RETURNS VERDICT IN 2022 STABBING DEATH OF HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE: REPORT
Now, Valle’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, has filed a motion claiming that the reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges constitute double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional, according to The Connecticut Post.
Crosland’s motion says the only explanation for the initial jury’s decision to acquit on the first-degree murder charge was that his client acted in self-defense.
“No other theory explains the acquittals,” he wrote in the motion.
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Defense attorney Kevin Smith delivers his closing arguments to the jury during Raul Valle’s murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 3, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
“The jury has spoken,” he continued. “The law is clear. The court must dismiss these charges with prejudice — immediately.”
The Connecticut Post reported that in an interview after Valle’s acquittal, the jury foreperson said self-defense was not discussed.
In their own filing, prosecutors disagreed with Crosland’s reasoning, according to the report.
ACCUSED AUSTIN METCALF KILLER WON’T FACE DEATH PENALTY OR LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE: DA
They described self-defense as a “justification defense,” not one that is central to the elements of the charges Valle still faces, and thus, cannot be used as an argument to have the current charges dismissed.
Kevin McGrath, father of slain prep school lacrosse player Jimmy McGrath, speaks to reporters outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, following Raul Valle’s acquittal on July 9, 2025. He is accompanied by family attorney Michael Rosnick. (Fox News)
“The fact that the jury acquitted the defendant of murder, intentional manslaughter and intentional assaults, but could not reach a unanimous verdict as to the reckless charges, demonstrates only that the jury must have reached the conclusion that the defendant lacked the specific intent to either kill or to cause serious physical injury,” the filing reportedly said.
McGrath’s family was shocked by the results of the 2025 trial.
“I’m astonished at the results, but, you know, it’s due process,” a stoic Kevin McGrath said outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, later describing his son as a “wonderful person.”
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“He’s entitled to it,” said McGrath. “And at the end of the day, the jury made their verdict. I’m not sure if, you know, they were in the same courtroom as we all were together, but that’s the verdict. And we’ll live with it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Crosland for comment.
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