In 1968, as a reaction to the riots after Martin Luther King's assassination, storeowners in Harlem added corrugate steel gates to their storefronts. Franco the Great viewed the gates as canvases to express his art and to call for positive change. On Sundays, a day where most stores were closed in Harlem at the time, Franco crafted his art to create positivity-promoting and African-American themed murals on the gates. Since 1968, Franco has painted over two hundred gates, from the East to the West side of 125th Street, and beyond.