Gap Swiftly Moving on From Kanye West, NYC Change Signals Yeezy Gap's Demise

Kanye West's ugly divorce from Gap is no shock to folks at the company -- turns out the handwriting was on the electronic wall, several of them ... right in the heart of Times Square.

While Kanye went public Thursday morning about pulling the plug on Gap, his now-former partners started packing up his stuff, metaphorically speaking, the day before. The first part of this video outside Gap's flagship NYC store was shot in late July, back when it was smooth sailing with Ye.

Ads for his Gap Yeezy Balenciaga "Dove Hoodie" were all over video billboards at street level AND on giant screens above the store entrance.

The "after" footage, though, was shot Wednesday at 1 PM, and all visual evidence of Ye had already been scrubbed -- more than 12 hours before Mr. West announced the partnership was dead.

The reality is even before he ripped Gap publicly -- banging its stock down 3.64%, a 7-week low -- Ye's lawyers had fired off a letter to Gap ... claiming it fed him empty promises about releasing clothing and opening brick and mortar Yeezy Gap stores to specifically hawk his designs.

The Times Square footage makes it clear both sides had walked away from negotiations long before we all found out it was over. It also makes it seem Gap isn't losing much sleep over it.

Of course, neither is Ye ... who, in his unique way, explained why he's done talking to Gap.