Banksy returns with painting on door to Hustler Club

A day after his controversial monthlong New York City residency was interrupted by what he called "police activity," Banksy returned with his latest piece of street art: a sprayed stencil on a lift gate outside the Hustler Club in Manhattan.

The painting, titled "Waiting in vain," shows a man holding a bouquet flowers on the door of Larry Flynt's adult nightclub in Hell's Kitchen, presumably waiting for one of the exotic dancers to emerge. An image of the work appeared on Banksy's website on Thursday.

A representative for the club said it was not involved in the installation and was unaware the elusive street artist intended to paint its door, but the club was "honored" Banksy chose it.

"Our No. 1 priority: protect the art and preserve the art to eventually display it inside," Hustler Club New York marketing director Steve Karel told Yahoo News, adding that security has been dispatched outside its West Side Highway location.

Karel said the club would leave the work on display for a day to the public before removing the door "to keep it safe from vandals."

It's unclear whether this was the artwork Banksy had intended to release on Wednesday, when the artist announced the postponement.

"Today's art has been cancelled due to police activity," a note posted on Banksy's website read.

Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted Banksy for defacing public property.

"It is not my definition of art," Bloomberg said when asked about the graffiti series. "It may be art, but it should not be permitted. And I think that's exactly what the law says."

According to the New York Post, New York police have been on the lookout for the elusive street artist since his residency began.

"GET BANKSY!" The New York Post declared on its cover after the artist unveiled graffiti in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood depicting a silhouette of the World Trade Center's twin towers with a flower — an orange chrysanthemum singed at the edges — emerging from one of the buildings.

But Banksy fired back. "I don't read what I believe in the papers," he wrote on his website.

"The street is in play," Banksy wrote while introducing the first piece of his New York run: the painting of a boy reaching for a can of spray paint on a sign that declares, "Graffiti is a crime."