Invader Reportedly Arrested Overnight on Orchard Street

The French street artist, Invader, has been making his mark on the Lower East Side in the past few days. This afternoon we’re hearing he was arrested overnight while putting the finishing touches on a new piece in the neighborhood. Property owner Mark Miller, who owns 90 Orchard Street and operates an art gallery in the building, said police called him this morning with the news that they’d picked up Space Invader and his crew as they were installing this mosaic piece above the Earnest Sewn clothing shop at the intersection of Orchard and Broome streets. Police said the mysterious artist had been taken into custody.

This afternoon, Miller had removed the mosaic and workers scrubbed the wall clean. The piece is mostly intact, and Miller intends to keep it in his possession. He’s not planning to sell the mosaic. We put a call into the NYPD to ask for details about the early morning arrest, which according to Miller occurred at 3 or 4 a.m. It’s not the first time Invader has had a run-in with cops. He was arrested in Los Angeles in 2011.