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On Saturday night, four people were arrested for spray-painting on the murals and pillars of Bethesda Terrace arcade in Central Park. The Post reports, "David Gonzalez Jr., 20, Aisha Calow, 18, Victoria Deniaminova, 16, and Sabrina Santiago, 16, were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly scrawling '3D' and 'U not ready' in purple and black on wall murals and sandstone pillars." According to the NYPD, a passer-by alerted two police officers that the group was tagging the arcade.
We went to Bethesda Terrace to look at the damage, and it's pretty horrible. The Bethesda Terrace arcade was restored two years ago, with its Minton tile ceiling put back. Central Park Conservancy workers (the Conservancy is responsible for the park's care, under contract with the Parks Department) were on the scene, examining the defacement.
A CPC spokesperson Kate Sheleg told us, "Once the active criminal investigation has been completed, the Conservancy is poised to begin the restoration process." (The Post's article estimated the damage at $50,000-100,000.) We mentioned that we couldn't recall another instance like this in recent memory, and Sheleg explained, "We do experience graffiti in the Park, but with our policy of removing it within 24 hours, it's rarely visible to the average Park user. This is one of the highest profile acts in recent years because of its location at Bethesda Terrace."
The Central Park Conservancy is a non-profit organization, which raises 85% of park's $24 million. With charitable giving likely to take a hit with the economic downturn, Sheleg said, "A healthy Central Park is crucial to the health and well being of the 25 million annual visitors to the Park... Contributions ensure we can continue our mission, which is more important that ever." You can donate to the CPC here.
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but wait - according to so many of the articles i've seen here, that's art. isn't it, jake?
Yep, this is what happens when some people glorify vandalism, calling it the public's "right."
touché
I hope people can appreciate the semantic difference between graffiti on top of a billboard and on top of a piece of artwork that just happens to be outdoors.
Porcelain might be porcelain but we don't piss in the sink.
This comment in the winrar.
Well said, lagomorph.
Nope, IMO, both are still vandalism.
Glorifying selected Graffiti as "art" is, IMO, just wrong...
I foresee a shitload of community service in their future. Hopefully people give them plenty of grief and embarrassment over this - Daily News, how about printing their pictures on your front page tomorrow?
are you retarded enough to really think that it's black and white like that? thats probably not considered art to many people, but much of things written or attached or pasted onto public property is, and it's much more fun than without it. a nice little place like that looks better as is though, that was just a bunch of trash scrawling in a very nice lil spot.
I suspect we'll see comments like "hang the bastards" and the like. And I'm usually one for being moderate with teenagers -- stupidity is a constant side-effect of youth, and God knows we all spent time being idiots in our time. And, you know, while I think grafitti "artists" are often assholes, I can see how it can be its own artform when done in appropriate places. So I'm the sort that you'd expect to be willing to hope the kids learned their lesson, and to not be calling for their heads.
But you know what? That place is beautiful, and for years it wasn't -- for years it was closed -- and now that it's restored it's one of my favorite places in the city. So screw these jerks. When you deface something beautiful -- something historic and artistic -- then I don't give a rip how old you are or how poor or how stupid. If you value so little what others have worked so hard to create and preserve, then I see no reason to value you. So, yeah, hang the bastards.
this is why we can't have nice things
Graffiti is art, but if Michelangelo painted on the Pope's face, he would have been arrested. Besides, this doesn't look like graffiti art--it looks like kids using spray paint. Just because a young kid spray paints something doesn't make it graffiti.
boooo!!!
Were it up to me, they would have to clean it up. Preferably using their tongues. And a huge crowd would get to watch them, jeer and mock them, and maybe even throw things at them.
If you destroy something public like that, the punishment should be public humiliation.
that's not art by any stretch of the imagination. I hope they get sentenced to $50,000-$100,000 worth of public service, or they can pay in cash to get off a little early if they like.
It is only art if you are a hipster with some real subversive tongue-in-cheek-stickin-it-to-the-man snark.
I thought urinating in public was a crime.
GODAMMIT! They spent over a decade restoring Bethesda Terrace. Punk-ass motherfuckers! FUCK!
Those little fuckers should be made to pay every fucking penny it costs to clean that shit up. I'd like to beat them all to death with a stick.
This is just awful. The terrace is one of my favorite places in NY. Kudos to the citizen that called the cops!
Pearls before swine....
Considering the amount of work that went into restoring that arcade, and how beautifully it was done, this is just heartbreaking.
Kids are stupid. If it wasn't kids, I hope whoever did it is held financially accountable, even if it means earning $.20/hr in the prison cafeteria for the next 30 years.
Bethesda Terrace is one of the nicest places in NYC that is available to absolutely everone. Tagging it is like pooping on a church altar--gross and unnecessary.
By the way, thanks for linking to the CPC to donate. Jackassery can only be undone through the will of civic-minded people. (I'm not w/ the CPC; I just love NYC).
It was 2 16 year olds, an 18 year old and a 20 year old. Hardly what I would call kids. My taxes should be going to the public schools, not cleaning up after these pigs. Not everyone can afford charity. That's why we elect our government to spend wisely.
3D? Clearly it's the fault of all the 3D commercials during the Super Bowl. I blame corporate America and Madison Avenue!
score.
The exact charge, according to the police, is "criminal mischief." When I saw the graffiti, I did wonder if the perps would be required to help scrub away the spray paint with a really tiny toothbrush.
Suenos? What would our country do without all these little morenitos?
You know what they say: an unfixed mexican male will spray.
Wow, that's pretty racist.
Agreed. Bad joke.
That's why Bethesda Terrace should be closed off and only opened for special occasions.
Look, if you restore it, more of these mooks will be back and deface it again. Pearls before swine is dead on.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Sort of like the Central Park Conservatory...a policy which I never liked. It might halt some opportunistic vandalism, but ultimately if someone wanted to, they will find a way around gates and locks.
I think the best thing we can do is educate kids from a young age to respect and love this city. Personally I'm indifferent to graffiti on a lot of buildings and subway cars (except on windows), perhaps because I grew up with it, but there's a limit when it involves great works of public art, which the terrace obviously is.
Why doesn't the park conservancy sue them? Make them and their parents owe until they die.
If the Conservancy doesn't sue, they are idiots. Also can a group of citizens sue the bastards in a class action lawsuit? Their vandalism hurts us all.
Wait, why aren't they being charged for the restoration? Split four ways that's $25,000 each. Sounds about right. Not only that, they should throw the little twerps in jail for a few years but force them to take Columbia Art History courses until they receive an A in art appreciation. Then they will hopefully understand why their lives are insignificant and we will still know who Praxiteles is in 1,000 years while we forget whose putrified remains rot in their graves.
Back to the 70s we go.
Surprised it took two years for this to happen.
I say we petition Marc Ecko and the other rich "artist" folk who encourage and glamorize this garbage to contribute to the restoration.
Why were the names of the minors released?
because they needed to be, i say, hopefully. because someone with their names will maybe pay them a visit and tie them to the bottom of the hudson, i say, hopefully.
at least they got felony charges, little fucking shitsacks.
"U not redy"
These little pieces of shit need a fucking public caning...
Those pictures just break my heart. I know how much effort and hard work was put in to the restoration of this beautiful part of the city.
Clarice City, I agree--these weren't kids who just "didn't know any better" and they should be held responsible. Ugh, what a shame.
Allow me to clear a few things up. The NYS penal law states that criminal Mischief occurs when there is $1500.00 worth of damage. It is clear that the amount of damage in this case overwhelmingly exceeds $1500.00. The police pleaded with the district attorney’s office to accept the charge of Criminal Mischief 2nd degree (Felony). However the ADA refused to charge the felony and misdemeanor charges where filed.
The male “Tagger” as they are known, is a habitual graffiti artist (I use the word artist loosely) and did not do this act on the spur of the moment. They voluntarily, intelligently and knowingly committed this crime.
Both the police and the parks department are aggressively seeking felony charges. For the record, a passerby alerted the police to the four suspects but an extensive search was conducted for the whereabouts of the 4 and a thorough investigation tied them to the crime. Detectives from the NYPD picked up the case and an arrest was made. Kudos to the passerby and the police.
Yeah I mean this is just tags, pretty gutsy of these kids to do it there, pretty stupid too, I would bet they didn't even realize people would care so much, they thought it was just some hall not anything special.
This is what happens when children don't know anything about where they live. Lack of education leads to lack of respect, hence you get people throwing garage and breaking stuff in their very neighborhood. They don't even get it because know told them its completely idiotic to damage your home.
What creeps! We don't need that trash in this city. Get rid of them-- ship them elsewhere.
God I hope they can get that crap off the walls.
As of today, all four have been charged with felonies. The DA acquiesced to the requests of the police and the Conservancy.
Thanks for the update, DET.
are the russians (assuming Victoria is a Russian) the new ghetto, now?
I had my wedding photos there! They should make those miscreants clean the mess they made, then after that beat them publicly right there in the terrace! I was sick to my stomach seeing thee photos of what they did.
My husband first showed BT to me on a date to Central Park promising I would love it, he was right. We spent many a lazy Saturday summer day stretched out on the grasses people watching. It is my favorite place in the entire city, and I always bring OOT friends there to show them how beautiful NYC can be.
Why dont we grab these kids and break all their limbs? Kinda makes it harder to spray that shit why your shoulder is dislocated no?
This is an act of sheer adolescent idiocy that should not be confused with legitimate street art. I'm glad that at least two of the people who did this are old enough that the financial and criminal ramifications will have an impact on their lives and hopefully teach them and everyone who hears about this not to do something comparably moronic.
This is really a shame. A great disappointment.
But...where is the support system for these young people? The parents, the mentors, someone to keep them on the straight and narrow?
Central Park Conservancy supports a beautiful resource for all of us, but what about the supports that's needed for our most important future resource - young people and students...before they ruin their lives and deface our prized public spaces.
I doubt they would have done this if they had been involved in groups like Publicolor - where they'd really learn how to express themselves through painting, color and a useful money-making skill (commercial painting)
www.publicolor.org - check it out