Banksy, the anonymous British graffiti artist in the midst of a month-long "residency" in New York, bashed the design of the new One World Trade Center Sunday online, calling Manhattan's tallest building a "shyscraper."
In an op-ed Banksy says was rejected by the New York Times, the artist claims the Western Hemisphere's tallest tower "looks like it never wanted to be built in the first place" and says the building is a symbol that "the glory days of New York are gone."
"You currently have under construction a one thousand foot tall sign that reads - 'New York - we lost our nerve,'" Banksy writes.
The column, posted online Sunday and designed to look like the Times' front page, goes on to say that the 104-story building stands "without a spine."
"It would be easy to view One World Trade Centre as a betrayal of everyone who lost their lives on September 11th, because it so clearly proclaims that the terrorists won," Banksy says.
The artist has been creating new works across the city, mostly painted on walls, over the past month and posting photos online as clues for fans looking for the installations.
Earlier this month, the artist painted an outline of the lower Manhattan skyline featuring the original World Trade Center on the side of a building in Tribeca.
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Mayor Bloomberg has said that Banksy's work "is not my definition of art."
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