This guy was creating a chalk portrait in front of a restaurant on 86th Street. As you can read from the bottom picture, it is a portrait of Friedrich Van Hayek.
Maybe I'm displaying my ignorance, and maybe most people know who Hayek is. Of course I couldn't post these images without saying something about the man, so I had to look him up. But first, I emailed a friend of mine who edits economic textbooks. Everyone should have a friend who edits economic textbooks. He wrote back saying, "Hayek is a controversial figure in economic history. He is a favorite of people who have one set of beliefs: small government, low taxes, more conservative economic positions." (I have smart friends.)
Don't you think, though, that's a strange subject to be drawing on a New York sidewalk? Or any sidewalk, for that matter. I wish I would have talked to the artist about his motive. I did put two bucks in his basket.
The last picture was taken the next day, and he was gone
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