A Banksy mural that once quietly lived on the back of a Brooklyn building is getting a new chapter in Connecticut.
Foolproof Brewing Company on Union Avenue in Bridgeport has acquired another work by the elusive British street artist, adding to its growing collection after unveiling Banksy’s Ghetto 4 Life mural in 2024. The brewery confirmed the acquisition in a brief statement, noting that the artwork will be exhibited on its campus beginning in the spring of 2026. Ownership declined to comment further on the details of the purchase.
According to an exclusive report by the New York Post, the newly acquired mural, known as The Tagging Robot, was sold by Richard Ruocco and his family of Brooklyn for less than $500,000. The piece depicts a robot spray painting a barcode and was removed last month from its original location near Stillwell and Neptune avenues.
The mural’s story stretches back more than a decade. Ruocco told the New York Post that the artwork appeared overnight in October 2013, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, painted on the back of the family’s building without warning. As interest and attention grew, the family installed a roll down gate and hired a security guard to protect the mural from vandalism or theft. The eventual sale came after Ruocco’s brother reached out to Foolproof last summer, having read about the brewery’s earlier Banksy acquisition. The deal was brokered soon after, with Ruocco saying he and his siblings split the proceeds evenly, each receiving enough to purchase what he described as a “nice car.”
Foolproof’s growing collection of street art has already drawn attention in Bridgeport, particularly with the arrival of Ghetto 4 Life, which was initially part of Banksy’s Better Out Than In series in the Bronx in 2013. Its relocation to Connecticut sparked debate over the use of the word “ghetto,” with some critics arguing the term clashed with Bridgeport’s efforts to reframe its image and shed negative stereotypes.
Kiumarz Geula, the Bronx based developer who purchased Foolproof nearly four years ago, addressed that controversy in an interview with the Connecticut Post in 2024. He explained that Banksy’s use of the word was intentional, highlighting how urban culture is often dismissed while simultaneously being consumed and commodified. Geula described the mural as powerful and thought provoking, suggesting its presence could encourage other artists to bring their work to Bridgeport and help position the city’s East End as a growing hub for creative expression.
With the addition of The Tagging Robot, Foolproof Brewing Company continues to transform its space into a living gallery, giving street art created for public walls a new audience and context. For Bridgeport, the move signals an ongoing effort to attract cultural attention and reframe the city through art that challenges, provokes, and invites conversation.
What began as an unannounced act of graffiti in Brooklyn now stands as part of a broader dialogue about street art, ownership, and the evolving role of cities willing to give these works a permanent home.