Law 'n Order at Last: W. B. Park Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

W. B. Park's art was never featured on the cover of The New Yorker magazine, but that doesn't mean he didn't try to get it there. My guess is that Park's illustration titled Law 'n Order at Last was a proposal for a New Yorker cover. One big clue is the dark green steel girder running down the left-hand border of the artwork, the strap that The New Yorker famously uses on pretty much all its covers since the very first one. The illustration shows a big city that has been transformed into a police state, with apartment buildings that are now cell blocks.

SWAT teams, FBI agents, the bomb squad, and police are all out in force. The uppermost road sign says No Left Turn. Get it?

W. B. Park's signature and handwritten title

That Cell Block awning address reads suspiciously like a date:  November 30, 2007.

Impassive faces may be seen behind the window bars. Park meant to convey something serious.

Verso

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended April 30, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204871104589?_skw=%22W.+B.+Park%22&itmmeta=01K0ZSKEHQ7DCGV58XAV93GNDW&hash=item2fb344f84d:g:Py4AAOSwstZmh24h&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cbv3d1QpCBg9aXZ%2BilIIv7uimYuNKYTP6LBvNgUcUpfmPwDWDdSxBXyR%2FLLkWQFe9

hkKdj0356zTJmbEgLSaY1liAsZhqa5pLXcOuRZkpYPQUz%2BWYdLo%2BVU%2FF8BYoq4YAoVLqeBq4FUXbXyq9D408IRbxIUvZtZtJNATNVxtj5F6WYzchRdqy2SqBn4hMdkX2OyAGTZReEXmlRlFG3t1CM7Tgpvf5C9oSbHWuT6iu93dC%2FzlhHHet7K2ALPc0XS30%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_rozfmHZg

W. B. Park
eBay eBay item description

Note:  I do love to speculate, but I would never claim to know it all. If this artwork by W. B. Park was indeed published, I wish to hear form readers who can identify the where and when, or else the means, motive, and opportunity.

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