2 Men Use Ladder to Steal Tiles From ‘Pizza Invader’ Mosaic in Greenpoint

Two men were caught on camera stealing tiles from a work of street art by noted French artist, Invader.

The mosaic has been located above Nonna’s Pizzeria (253 Nassau Ave.) for more than a decade. News 12 reports that neighbors spotted the men in action early morning Sunday, March 1. 

“My husband and I woke up in the middle of the night hearing some scratching,” a resident named Anna told the outlet.

“One was holding a ladder on the street, and the other was carving into the mosaic. It’s really scary to have someone practically in your bedroom window in the middle of the night.”

Greenpointers reached out twice to the NYPD and were told they had no reports of the incident on file. However, News12 now reports that “around 1:30 a.m., officers received a call about the duo using a ladder to climb up and bang on a resident’s window just 10 minutes away at 35 Nassau Avenue.”

It’s not the first time Invader’s work has been targeted in New York City, leaving some neighbors to speculate that the same perpetrators might be responsible. 

East Village outlet EV Grieve reported on multiple incidents in 2024 where two thieves used a ladder to remove Invader’s work from walls across the city. The artist himself took notice, posting on Instagram: 

“For the past few weeks, some guys in New York have been destroying my work by trying to rip it off the walls, probably to resell it. Shame on them! Street art belongs to the street, and in my case, once ripped from the walls, it is nothing more than broken, unsigned tiles that you could find in any tile store. They will never be authenticated.”