‘Banksy came overnight’: A neighborhood wakes up to world-famous street art

LONDON — The Banksy appeared the way Banksy murals often do: overnight, unsigned and to everyone’s complete surprise. Before the artist claimed credit, this north London neighborhood was embroiled in a full-on whodunit. Was it truly the world-famous, elusive artist who had painted streaks of bright green paint that appeared as if they were foliage behind a large tree? Were there telltale signs of his work in the portrait of the young person holding a pressure sprayer on the peeling wall? By the gray and rainy Monday morning, this normally sleepy corner of Finsbury Park had turned into a circus. Journalists and local politicians descended on the scene after the mural appeared Sunday. A Banksy expert rushed over and declared it to be the likely work of the artist. Neighbors shared photos on chat groups; an unusual crowd gathered to snap selfies and give interviews to journalists. There were other questions aside from the mural’s provenance. What would it mean for the neighborhood? The Banksy work appeared on a wall just off Christie Court, a block of housing run by the local authority in the borough of Islington, where poor and working-class families live alongside very wealthy residents. “Banksy came...