Art Collector Who Bought a $6 Million Banana Offers to Buy 100,000 More

The vendor who sold the banana only received a quarter for the fruit. Now the buyer of the conceptual work has offered his fruit stand a bigger payday.

A week after a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur bought an artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall with duct tape for $6.2 million at auction, the man, Justin Sun, announced a grand gesture on X. He said he planned on purchasing 100,000 bananas — or $25,000 worth of the produce — from the Manhattan stand where the original fruit was sold for 25 cents.

But at the fruit stand at East 72nd Street and York Avenue, outside the doors of the Sotheby’s auction house where the conceptual artwork was sold, the offer landed with a thud against the realities of the life of a New York City street vendor.

It would cost thousands of dollars to procure that many bananas from a Bronx wholesale market, said Shah Alam, the 74-year-old employee from Bangladesh who sold the original banana used in “Comedian,” an absurdist commentary on the art world by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. And, it wouldn’t be easy to move that many bananas, which come in boxes of about 100.

And then there is the math: The net profit from the purchase of 100,000 bananas by Mr. Sun — who once bought an NFT of a pet rock for more than $600,000 — would be about $6,000.

“There’s not any profit in selling bananas,” Mr. Alam said.

Plus, as an employee who makes $12 an hour during 12-hour shifts, Mr. Alam pointed out that any money would by rights belong to the fruit stand’s owner, not him.

Reached by phone, the stand’s owner, Mohammad R. Islam, 53, who goes by Rana, said he would split any profit between himself, Mr. Alam and the six other people he employs at his two fruit stands. No one had contacted him about any such purchase, though, he said.

Mr. Islam had learned from a reporter of Mr. Sun’s plans, which also included offering the bananas from Mr. Islam’s stand for free worldwide, to anyone who showed identification, according to his post on X. Mr. Sun — who has also announced plans to eat the original banana during a Friday news conference at a Hong Kong luxury hotel — did not respond to a request for comment.

Working in the rain on Thanksgiving Day, Mr. Islam’s brother, Mohammad Alam Badsha (who is not related to Mr. Alam) said he would welcome the bulk purchase. But it would have little tangible impact, Mr. Badsha said, either on the daily life of the fruit vendors, or on the gulf laid bare by the $6.2 million banana and the stand that sold it for a quarter.

“It’s definitely an inequality,” Mr. Badsha said in Bengali.

He added a Bangladeshi idiom: It was, he said, the difference between heaven and hell.

Zachary Small and Debadrita Sur contributed reporting. Tiffany May contributed reporting from Hong Kong.

Around the New York Region

A look at life, culture, politics and more in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

• The Priest, the Power Broker and the Pop Star: A monsignor is in hot water with his diocese as prosecutors look into his dealings with Mayor Eric Adams’s top adviser. It all started with Sabrina Carpenter.
• Disappearing Dining Sheds: Street side sheds helped keep New York restaurants afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, for better or worse, new city rules are forcing their removal.
• The Housing Crunch: New York City is dealing with its worst housing shortage in decades. The diverging fates of two developments offer a window into the crisis.
• Witnessing a Neighborhood’s Decline: A longtime vendor in Manhattan’s Chinatown is finding it harder to make a living as people shun his intricate crafts in favor of cheap items like $1 plastic bracelets.
• Sunday Routine: The pop pianist Chloe Flower, who performed with Cardi B at the Grammys, indulges in luxury shopping, a foot massage and three-hour dinners with loved ones on her “me” day.