Gothamist: Anti-Graffiti Task Unit To Disband?

simon

Fri, 20 Aug 2004 15:43:27 -0500

one nice effect of tagging (the less publicly approved arm of graff) is the reduction of those very sterile and culturally homogenous facades that are slowly taking over the city. Would you rather have NYC as it is, or does the slow expansion of Urban Outfitters/ J Crew/ Whole Foods/ Starbucks/ and etc. look good as it is? I'm not complaining about the TYPES of stores that are buying out the unique City landscape (thats a different argument) but just that they all look so similar and so boring! Parts of NYC look like parts of Seattle look like parts of Burlington look like parts of London.............. that ain't culture.

Kevin Walsh

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 23:43:36 -0500

Few cars in the system these days aren't tagged in some way, though it's not as bad as it was from about 1975-1988. The cars used to be 90% clean, but there's usually scratchiti and at least 2 tags in every car now... The coppers are too busy running in photohobbyists...fight the real enemy, as Sin�ad used to say. www.forgotten-ny.com

Graffito

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 15:31:22 -0500

I for one happen to really like graffiti. I hope it comes back and smothers everything.

derek

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:12:19 -0500

grafitti is a borderline issue for me, because some of it can be artistic and actually improve things. i'm generally against random tagging that looks like useless scribble, but have found some of it to end up having a pollock-esque, mural-like effect when viewed together. however, whatever glass-eroding spray has been used on subway car windows of late is truly wrong; you can't even clean that off. and i do sympathize with personal property issues. some things should be left alone. as far as the mta chasing photobloggers, i've already had a few minor run-ins. a few months back, while kneeling down shooting a train link closeup, a woman approached me suspiciously and asked what i was doing. i said "just taking some pictures." she looked worried and moved away. a few minutes later, two cops showed up and asked me about it. i told them it was an art thing, and they said "that's what we figured, but we have to check it out if someone asks us to." onyl a few days ago, i was near the edge of a platform shooting into a tunnel when one of two transit workers started asking me what i was doing. i pointed out i wasn't beyind the line i was supposed to be, and asked if there was a law in effect yet. he then switched tactics, acting as though he was on my side and just warning me the cops upstairs would probably arrest me, what with "all this terrorist stuff going on." i briefly considered talking about freedom, fear, and exactly when "all this terrorist stuff" was supposed to end, and how are we supposed to live our lives in the meantime. however, having already gotten enough shots, i smiled and walked away. it's still their domain after all, and the rights aren't quite so clear cut down there. a grafitti-covered doorway, as well as the train link shot, and other subway shots, are on my photoblog www.ocularspectra.com. i'll be continuing to shoot as much as possible in the subway as long as i can, because i love it.

Jay

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 10:59:34 -0500

There should be summary execution for anyone caught spray painting someone elses property. What the fuck is the purpose of tagging?