When we met up with Jim Power the other day, he had just completed mosaics on a pair of planters at 1st Ave and St Marks and was working on a new piece on the curb at that intersection. One of the completed mosaics, on the island at the NW corner of the intersection, is a portrait of the Rev. Martin Luther King, the other an NYPD patch.

If you don’t know who Jim is, welcome to the East Village, you should stay a while. Jim, also known as the Mosaic Man, has been beautifying the nabe with his mosaics for almost 40 years. His Mosaic Trail along St Marks is legendary.

Jim is one of the few street artist whose work is actually sanctioned by the city (the city may be cracking down on street art rn, we know of a few artists who have received hefty fines recently for offenses as trivial as writing on the sidewalk). Power was honored with a proclamation in 2004 by Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Jim is doing well, pleased about the new teeth he is acquiring shortly. It’s been hot, but the East Village’s Mosaic Man is undeterred, showing up each day for work as mayor of New York’s sixth borough, the EV. In addition to tending to the Mosaic Trail and his other work, Power has a couple of commissions coming up, a firehouse and an EV restaurant are in line for mosaic makeovers.

As always, though, Jim can use some help. He sells beautiful mosaic belt buckles on the street and accepts donations via Venmo at James-Power-36.