Mitchell Schorr’s DA RACE STREET LEGAL pits an ice cream truck against exotic sports cars in a fantasy racing series at 19 locations in Manhattan.
In the 1960s-1970s, New York City was a mecca for serious illegal street racing. During that era I was Editor of Hi-Performance CARS magazine and on numerous occasions assigned writer Joe Oldham to cover the scene for us. Joe spent a lot of nights at street racing hangouts, often taking part in the evenings’ activities!
The most popular spots included Connecting Highway and Cross Bay Boulevard (Queens), Mitchell’s (Brooklyn) and the White Castle on Boston Post Road (Bronx). They also raced on Conner Street (Bronx), around JFK Airport and on Staten Island.
Artist Mitchell Schorr, above, (not related) wasn’t old enough to drive then. And, he’s not a racer now. But his DA RACE STREET LEGAL fantasy murals bring racing to Manhattan's mean streets and smiles to the faces of tens of thousands of daily spectators.
Best known for his urban murals, Schorr has painted 3-D murals in and around many New York City parks for more than a decade. His whimsical DA RACE STREET LEGAL pits sports/race cars against an ice cream truck, with vehicles exchanging leads and racing ahead on a total of 19 tracks. Each location, 613 11th Avenue, above, serves as a snapshot of the ever-progressing, lead-exchanging race.
Schorr's murals have been featured on NY1 TV's New Yorker of the Week, Fox 5 TV's Good Day New York, and in New York, I Love You, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Christie. His street racing project started on July 4, 2011, and the first of 19 “tracks” was at the corner of Rivington and Bowery, above, in lower Manhattan. Photo below, 50th Street &12th Avenue.
Working out of his Manhattan studio, he would like to eventually take DA RACE STREET LEGAL to other metro cities, including Detroit and Los Angeles, and to other countries. His murals have been seen at the Slick Art Fair (Paris), the American Academy (Rome) and on Brick Lane (London). Photo, below, 38th Street.
For more information about Mitchell Schorr and his art, http://www.mschorr.com/homehttp://www.mschorr.com/home
Accidents are a fact of life in real as well as fantasy racing, http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2011/11/newspaper-truck-smashes-into-olympic-diner-on-delancey-street.html
Joe Oldham on vintage NYC street racing, http://www.insideline.com/features/street-racing-in-new-york-city.html