Banksy unveils six pieces in NYC residency

NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Elusive British street artist Banksy began a monthlong project in New York with six pieces of graffiti scrawled on buildings and vehicles, his website said.

The residency, named "Better Out Than In," began Tuesday, featured a stenciled drawing of two turn-of-the-century boys reaching for a street sign that reads "Graffiti is a crime," the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

The image was white washed within hours of its creation, the newspaper said.

By Saturday afternoon, there was a notice on the artist's 1-800 number that he painted a mural of butterflies and waterfalls on the side of a 1992 GM truck. The work's location was unknown, but rumors on social media suggested it was in the East Village.

Three new tags debuted Friday: "Occupy! The Musical" in Bushwick, "Dirty Underwear: The Musical" in East Williamsburg and "Playground Mob: The Musical" in the Lower East Side, the newspaper said.

The tag in Bushwick was painted over within hours, but the one in Williamsburg was being protected by residents in the apartment building upon which it was painted.

"More than 1,000 people have come by today," Robert DeJesus, 41, said. "We've been guarding it and are going to put up a Plexiglas cover over it so everyone can enjoy it."

Information about the sixth tag wasn't reported.