Tough New Graf Laws Target Property Owners

During the last week of 2005, the Bloomberg administration signed a flurry of new city laws. One of the most controversial changed the way the city deals with graffiti. IndyMedia reports:

The New York City Council has passed three new anti-graffiti bills which Bloomberg is no doubt itching to sign into law. Intro. No. 663-A amends existing law to mandate community service in a graffiti cleanup program as the minimum penalty for getting caught. Another bill announces a new “possesion ban,” making it illegal for anyone under 21 to carry spray paint, inks, or other graffiti supplies on public property.
Those first two mostly extend current laws, but the third moves the city’s law in a new and disturbing direction. Intro No. 299-A requires owners of commercial and residential buildings to remove graffiti from their property within 60 days of its appearance, or face fines. We’ve seen this kind of thing elsewhere in the country, but to my knowledge this is the first mandated-buff law in NYC.

The Daily News got a great quote from Peter Vallone, who sponsored the bill: "We realize these bills push the envelope," Vallone said. "But it's time to get serious. We can no longer let these spray-painting punks use our city as their unmarked canvas." The first two parts of the bill make sense to us-- after all, most people who got busted for graf already got community service, and it's been a crime to sell paint to minors for a number of years. Vallone seems a bit off-base on the last part, though: is it really fair to fine property owners $300 for not cleaning up their gates after they've been graffitied? Doesn't that sort of blame the victim for the crime, and screw over the owner for a second time?

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By Jake Dobkin in News on December 31, 2005 10:34 AM

Comments [rss]

jake

i don't see a conflict in my opinions-- i think that you can like graffiti and still empathize with the property owners who don't like it-- and see that its unfair for them to have to pay fines for something they can't exercise a great deal of control over. it's just that my empathy for their predicament is outweighed by my enjoyment of streetart-- and i believe that the value of streetart for the city-at-large outweighs the incovenience for the property owners.

that may seem like slicing things pretty thin to you, brightliner, but that doesn't bother me. unrelated: gothamistHQ is at the corner of broadway and chambers. my apartment is at the corner of thompson and prince. one word of warning: the cops in the neighborhood frequent the deli store on the corner, and milady's bar is quite popular with some violent drunks-- so you might want to be cautious about spraying the place up. rock on!

Brightliner

What's this? Jake not railing against "the man" for its anti-graffiti attitude? The end of the world is nigh! Or maybe he realized that he unwittingly revealed the location of Gothamist headquarters yesterday. Now that we know that it's at Prince and Thompson, if Jake ever advocates "street art" again, I'll plaster that entire corner with graffiti.

Boots

Can you commission a graffiti after the fact? What if somebody spray-paints my house, and I really like it? Can I keep it?

k.see

I think I read in one of the news articles that buildings with 6 units or more will havfe to clean off graffiti if its reported. Or they can tell the city within a certain time and the city will clean it.

It turns the NYPD and city into Art critics and every hater on the street into a snitch.

And no the Pratt student will not be criminalized. The police will still use the law to harrass poor peopls, people of color, and racially profile. Its not like this law wiped racism and classism out of the psyche of the NYPD. Maybe increased it.

check out more thoughts on this:

Visual Resistance

Anonymous

i believe it's just large commercial or apt buildings that are responsible for cleaning and if the owner calls the city (311) or local elected offical it will be cleaned free of charge. As for possession ban there are certain expections to the bill. I think its about time the admin gives some real tools to fight the spread of graffiti...

Wolf Larsen

This is actually a legal stratey mistake by the administration. First, anyone can just walk around town and report any wall-paint as graph and demand to have it removed in 60 days.. (I'm thinking schools etc.)... Bringing up the "art/non-art debate" Second, owners will have to either face a fine or claim to have commissioned the graph, thus absolving the artist from any legal wrongdoing.

jaykayess

So if I'm a 19-yo freshman at Pratt and I have a backpack full of paint pens for legitimate school work, that's a crime?

yankee

So I didn't think you'd characterize graffiting as a crime. I was surprised to read the last 2 sentences. (Not that I don't agree with their sentiment, just that I'm surprised that you call the property owners victims.)