A Queens stadium is defacing Carroll Gardens streets by spraying sidewalks with advertisements for “sold out” shows.
The stenciled ads offer details for two upcoming concerts by British folk-rock outfit Mumford and Sons at Forest Hills Stadium — immediately followed by the words “Sold Out” in capital letters — leaving locals scratching their heads at the apparent act of senseless vandalism.
“It seems pointless,” said Chloe Bean, a Clinton Hill resident and Mumford and Sons fan who said the graffiti only served to remind her that she isn’t attending the show.
In fact, Carroll Gardeners can still attend one of the two gigs — the band’s June 16 concert in the outer borough sold out within hours, but the “Little Lion Man” performers subsequently announced a second show for the following night, for which tickets are still available.
Residents say that is not clear from the scrawls, however, and the ads just seem like bragging.
“I guess they want me to know they’re successful?” said Red Hook resident Don Wollner upon examining the pavement. “It has virtually no relevance to me in Brooklyn, but I guess promotion is promotion.”
Either way, the signs are graffiti because they are on public pavement, a spokesperson for the city’s sanitation department said, but added it was up to local police to erase them. A rep for the transportation department, which also has jurisdiction over sidewalks, said it is aware of the illicit folk art and is investigating.
But one local says she is happy for the ads to stay, as she views them as an avant-garde statement on the neighborhood’s residents.
“It’s sort of this senseless, totally out-of-the-neighborhood random stamp everywhere — which is kind of like the people who live around here,” said Janie Gordon who has lived in Carroll Gardens for 40 years.
A spokesman for the stadium later claimed the signs are written in chalk — which the city still often considers graffiti — and it plans to clean them up.
The shows’ promoter AEG Live said it was too busy with a Justin Bieber concert to comment immediately.
