Sign painter with brush

At least, I think he’s a sign-painter, working on one of the oversize ads that routinely decorate the sides of New York’s old brick buildings. But I have to admit that I’ve never seen one of these sign-workers using a brush before. Perhaps he’s a graffiti artist with his own platform-crane.
(See extra for a view of him in profile from across the street.)

And now, in response to Martin’s curiosity, I’ve added extra #2, taken at the end of the day. It was indeed an ad — and knowing that these things are hand-painted, I will never again view them in quite the same way.