'New York, you lost your nerve': Banksy criticizes design of new World Trade Center in op-ed claiming 'the terrorists won'

British prankster writes that One World Trade Center 'so clearly proclaims the terrorists won'

Banksy says that the construction of 'One World Trade declares the glory days of New York are gone'

Elusive graffiti prankster has just four days left on his New York 'artist residency'



Banksy has used his latest piece of artwork in New York to criticize the ‘mediocre’ design of the new World Trade Center – and claim its construction is symbolic of the city losing its nerve.



On Sunday, the artist posted an opinion piece on his website, 'Better Out Than In,' and said that his essay had been rejected by the New York Times.



The latest addition to the collection which he describes as 'an artist's residency on the streets of New York' is a wall mural in Greenpoint that reads: ‘This site contains blocked messages’ in reference to the op-ed he says was rejected.

Banksy's rejected New York Times' op-ed piece, which the graffiti artist published instead on his personal website. He introduced the piece by saying, 'Today's piece was going to be an op-ed column in the New York Times. But they declined to publish what I supplied. Which was this...'

Banksy unveiled his latest piece in the streets of Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Sunday. The new wall mural reads 'This site contains blocked messages' in reference to the op-ed he says was rejected

The artist has been in the city for a number of weeks now, leaving pieces of art in all five boroughs in a series called 'Better Out Than In'.



Among the most recent is an 'alternative New York bumper slogan' and graffiti paintings, the most recent of which is 'Hell's Kitchen'.



Banksy titled the essay, 'The biggest eyesore in New York is not the graffiti, argues Banksy, it's under construction at Ground Zero.' In the piece he renames the tower, 'Shyscraper.'

The British artist goes on to argues that One World Trade is 'a one thousand foot tall sign that reads - New York - we lost our nerve.'



'It would be easy to view One World Trade Center as a betrayal of everyone who lost their lives on September 11th, because it so clearly proclaims the terrorists won,' Banks writes in his rejected op-ed.



'Those 10 men have condemned us to live in a world more mediocre than the one they attacked, rather than be the catalyst for a dazzling new one.'

The elusive artist also states that: 'One World Trade Center is a non-event. It's vanilla. It looks like something they would build in Canada.'



On his website, Banksy wrote: 'Today's piece was going to be an op-ed column in the New York Times.



'But they declined to publish what I supplied. Which was this...'

The latest piece of work from what the artist describes as his 'residency on the streets of New York' is painted on the back of a chicken slaughter house One World Trade Center looms over the north reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial site. British graffiti artists calls the building a 'disaster'

Hell's Kitchen: One of Banksy's latest creations on the Hustler Club building which he describes on his website as 'waiting in vain at the door of the club'

But by leaving out the actual addresses, he has started a scavenger hunt among the masses who are keen to see the pieces up close.

Many New Yorkers have embraced his work throughout the city, including an open-air gallery featuring two pieces on canvas hanging under the High Line in Chelsea and a piece called, 'Ghetto 4 Life' in the South Bronx.

Another installation is his Mobile Garden - a New York delivery truck which has been converted into a garden complete with a rainbow, waterfall and butterflies.



The artist's website indicates the garden will be in a different part of the city every night, with its first visit earlier this month taking place in East Village.



However not everyone is a fan of the sneaky street artist. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly condemned the artist, saying that graffiti is not art.

The artist sprayed this message onto a van in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in a piece he calls 'Alternative New York bumper slogan'

'Ghetto 4 Life' in South Bronx, 153rd Street and Elton Avenue is another piece from the 'Better Out Than In' collection

The mobile garden, parked here on East Houston Street, visited a different part of the city every night after its creation

Art lovers gather to take a look inside the mobile installation which features rainbows, a waterfall and butterflies according to Banksy's website



Crowds gather to view this grim reaper in a bumper car as part of the artist's collection which will come to an end on Halloween

'Art is art, and nobody’s a bigger supporter of the arts than I am,' Bloomberg said last week. 'I just think there are some places for art, and there are some places (for) no art.



'And you running up to someone’s property or public property and defacing it is not my definition of art. Graffiti is a sign of decay.'

Instead of being published in the Times, Banksy posted his latest artwork - a spray painted wall of a chicken slaughterhouse in Greenpoint, which reads 'This site contains blocked messages' - instead.



While Banksy fever in New York is about to come to a close, the artist leaves hoping that New Yorkers 'do something' about the new World Trade Center.

This spray-painted piece of art is captioned only as 'Upper West Side' on the artist's website

The controversial artist took a brief pause from posting his work online, suggesting NYPD officers were on his trail

Each new work has set off a treasure hunt across the city, as fans scramble to find the pieces before they are moved such as the Sirens of the Lambs, pictured

A 1/36 scale replica of the great Sphinx of Giza made from smashed cinderblocks in Queens, New York

'One World Trade declares the glory days of New York are gone,' Banksy writes. 'You really need to put up a better building in front of it right away. Or better still, let the kids with the roller poles finish it off.'



Banksy's visit culminates in four days on Halloween. The much anticipated installation is expected by many to be his biggest.

