clipped from travel.nytimes.com

OUT-OF-TOWN visitors are excused if they get overwhelmed walking down a busy New York City street. There’s so much going on that no one can possibly take it all in.

Natives long ago learned to filter the sensory onslaught: some exclusively people watch (looking for fashion trends, seeking potential mates); or building watch (admiring architecture, envying brownstones), or even nature watch (identifying street trees, counting rats).

A rarer tactic, and one well worth trying for a weekend, is to focus exclusively on street art, the uncommissioned, uncommercial forms of expression that pop up on buildings, sidewalks and street signs and go way beyond traditional graffiti.