Many driving by this mural on a handball court off the Harlem River Drive have wondered if it was graffiti. Originally, it was, and artist Keith Haring was fined $25 for it. But then someone changed his work to make it say “Crack Is It,” which led a maintenance team to paint over the entire thing. Upon learning this, Parks Commissioner Henry Stern apologized to Haring and allowed him to recreate the anti-drug statement. The surrounding playground is also called the Crack is Wack Playground. [Photo via NYC Parks Dept.]

Arguably the most recognizable outdoor mural space in all of New York City, the Bowery Mural wall has been legally hosting the work of different artists since 2008, but Keith Haring and Juan Dubose first painted the space in 1982. When wall-owner Goldman Properties started commissioning, the first piece was a tribute to the original. Currently, a bright, geometric piece by Maya Hayuk dons the wall.

Con Ed commissioned Richard Haas to paint the side of its South Street Seaport substation. According to author Glenn Palmer-Smith, Haas successfully “neutralized the substation’s twentieth-century utilitarian intrusion” into its surroundings by providing a vision of days long past and of the Brooklyn Bridge, which is blocked by the building. [Photo courtesy Richard Haas]

Eduardo Kobra bright and colorful mural at West 25th Street and 10th Avenue recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photo of two people kissing in Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II on August 14, 1945. It’s popular with the Instagram crew, and it's best viewed from the High Line. [Photo via Jack Berman/Curbed Flickr pool]

This is a cool trick on the eye, but it came to be because the Jules Demchick, who developed the high-rise across the street, was unhappy with his graffiti-covered neighbor. So, he asked the building’s owner for permission to paint a mural on it. The owner agreed, and Richard Haas was hired.

Vanity Fair and Cadillac commissioned Barry McGee to create this mural as part of their “Art in the Streets” project in 2012. It measures 70 feet tall and 100 feet wide, and took 10 days to paint. Many of McGee's pseudonyms and slang are featured in the work, which is located on the wall of the Mark Morris Dance Center in Fort Greene. Pimple and Fong are street names, DFW stands for "Down for Whatever," and THR means for "The Harsh Reality." [Photo via Google Maps]

Created by artists Christopher Cardinale and Youme Landowne, this six-story mural was a collaboration between the Groundswell art group and community organization and the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation. It's located on the side of the Lead Safe House Building, which is the home base for NMIC's programs about lead poisoning. Washington Heights and Inwood have more children at risk of lead poisoning than any other neighborhood, and the mural features "large embracing hands that separate the threat of lead poisoning from the figures in the mural and represent the maternal embrace and a protective force."[Photo courtesy Groundswell]

Previously a blank, red, brick wall, this project is another from the Groundswell organization. Not even a month old, it was designed to create an “inviting gateway” to the neighborhood and was created by 17 young artists on probation working with lead artist Chris Soria. It is part of a two-year public art project called “Transform/Restore: Brownsville.” The goal of the project is to remake vandalized walls with murals painted by young adults on probation. [Photo courtesy Groundswell]