He took street art to new heights — without even realizing it.
A Dominican artist has transformed the side of a 29-story Bronx public-housing tower into the tallest mural in America — and he had no idea he was making history until he was already splashing paint on the building.
Néstor Omar García, 48, who works under the name “Angurria,” spent 22 grueling days spearheading the painting of the 307-foot masterpiece alongside fellow artists Johann “Dovente” Baez and Mario “Son Coro” Resende, working 11- and 12-hour shifts to bring a colorful celebration of Bronx life to the sky.
“At first, I just knew it was a big wall,” García told The Post through his wife, Venus, who served as his Spanish interpreter.
“Then they told me it was the biggest mural in The Bronx. After that, it was the biggest in New York City. And finally, we found out it was the biggest in the United States.”
The mammoth artwork, titled “Un MAR de Gente / From Every Shore,” stretches up the side of NYCHA’s Morrisania Air Rights development at 3145 Park Ave. in Melrose.
Commissioned by public-art nonprofit ArtBridge, the mural was inspired by six community meetings where residents shared their ideas about how their neighborhood should be portrayed.
The finished product is divided into three sections representing the past, present and future.
At the top, a grandmother with hair rollers carries her granddaughter on her shoulders, symbolizing how older generations lift up those who come after them.
The middle depicts a multicultural block party, with neighbors from different backgrounds celebrating together.
And at the bottom, two children play around an open fire hydrant, evoking a more innocent time.
“When we were kids, we didn’t look at where another person came from or what color they were,” García said. “We just saw a friend in everyone.”
But creating the towering tribute was no walk in the park.
For starters, securing the necessary permits and approvals took five months.
“It felt more like an engineering project than an art project,” García said.
Then came the daily ordeal of getting himself, his fellow painters and their materials up the scaffolding.
“It took 20 to 25 minutes just to get to the top,” he said. “You had to plan everything carefully, because if you forgot something on the ground, you could lose almost an hour going down and coming back up.”
The undertaking consumed roughly 700 spray-paint cans, dozens of gallons of acrylic paint and 30 gallons of protective sealant.
But García, who lives in Santo Domingo, said the greatest reward came from the people living in the building.
Residents brought the artists food, coffee and water and thanked them for making their community feel important.
“People would come up and say, ‘Thank you for making us feel like we matter, ‘” he recalled.
And after nearly a month of working hundreds of feet above the Bronx streets, García had one immediate reaction to finishing the country’s tallest mural.
“I was relieved,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t have to go up there anymore.”
The post Artist makes history with stunning NYC mural — and didn’t even know it appeared first on New York Post.
