Greetings from Red Hook

Artists: Victor Ving & Lisa Beggs Year: 2014 Commissioned by: Emma & Beriah Wall

Welcome to the Greetings sign of Red Hook, painted over ten years ago in bold, vintage postcard-style letters. It all started in 2014, when artist Beriah Wall—a longtime Red Hook resident—was still living here. He was known for creating artistic coins engraved with messages, many of which are still in circulation throughout the city. The outside of his studio was blank and boring, so his daughter, Emma, reached out to her friends, Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs, to see if they'd help bring some color to the gate. Victor was a former NYC graffiti artist, and Lisa a photographer. They had just completed their first Greetings mural in Chinatown and were excited to try the concept again. They painted the mural in just one day—no primer, just raw graffiti in a vintage style. What’s funny is that they had no idea they were creating the prototype for what would become their famous Greetings Tour—an artistic road trip they launched the following year. They drove their van through 30 states and painted postcard murals for 70 communities. Now, let’s decode what you’re seeing. Each letter in "RED HOOK" highlights something special about the neighborhood: The "R" features a Red Hook anchor—the maritime symbol that defines this waterfront community. The "E" shows the yellow water taxis that connects Erie Basin to the rest of the city. They were the only ferries existing at the time. The "D" refers to the local soccer fields. After Hurricane Sandy devastated the area, the fields were rebuilt and transformed from a toxic wasteland into a community gathering place, where hundreds of families come to watch games on summer evenings. The "H" celebrates the famous lobster joints that helped make Red Hook a destination. The first "O" captures the sunset over the Red Hook Grain Terminal. The second "O" represents the Red Hook Houses, home to many of the neighborhood's residents. The "K" pays tribute to the Red Hook Crit, a fixed-gear bike race—no brakes, no gears—that put Red Hook on the international map. The last race was held in 2018. One last detail: if you look at the bottom of the mural, you’ll see the original "John Elway" graffiti that was already on the wall. Victor and Lisa chose to keep it as a tribute to the street artists who came before them. That respect for the neighborhood’s history is part of what makes this mural so authentically Red Hook. So next time you pass by this wall, remember—you’re looking at the birthplace of an idea that traveled thousands of miles, connecting communities one mural at a time. And the story continues. Today, the former studio hosts the Wall Gallery, curated by two local artists, Scott Pfaffman and Franz Landspersky.