[This morning]
Workers painted over the rest of the tags along East 13th Street at Second Avenue on July 28.
It wasn't really the best brown paint job that we'd ever seen.
We walked by that day and noticed that workers got paint and water-blasted graffiti residue on the cars parked here.
Previously.
I guess it's cheaper to repaint every month than to press charges against the vandals.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a tag...It's the security phrase you have to type in before you can get into Verizon building.
ReplyDeleteIts not a tag its local art. Why the negatives? This is old school NYC. Sorry it doesn't fit into the sanitized whitewashed EV.
ReplyDeleteActually it is not local art, it's vandalism, defacement of property you do not own.
ReplyDeleteWhen you own the building/property then you can paint whatever you want on it. When you don't you can't, or you can but you're breaking the law and will go to jail then do hours of community service eradicating grafitti for it if you're caught.
I love how vandalism becomes ART for the ethically impaired.
ReplyDeleteI'm tired of people defending the vandals. You should be locked up with them for excepting this trash in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteBlank ugly brown wall versus some colorful paint, character, uniqueness and texture - not much of a question here...
ReplyDeleteApparently unless it is a sterile blank inane surface it is not to be tolerated these days. The thing that made this and other neighborhoods INTERESTING was the UNIQUE streets, people, cars, behavior and storefronts that were distinctly that neighborhood's and gave it something interesting to experience. Now - homogenized, status quo, bland, anywhere USA is the motif. A dreadful bunch of bollocks it is - depressing at best, agggravating and more usually... 'Nuff said.
I guess nobody cares about the cleaning chemicals and sheets of paint on the cars when there's a pointless 'is it art or vandalism' argument to be had.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like graffiti move.
ReplyDeleteHey Scooby: A big ditto. Apparently, the EV has been overrun by people who'd like to turn it into some god forsaken mid-western town that they came from. And...yes...my own building has been targeted and beautified by graffiti artists. No problem for me. Never will be.
ReplyDeleteTaking a look at the photo, anyone with a brain can see the results of graffiti: trash. Trash breeds trash.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about blank walls vs. colorful, etc. walls, it's about the mindset of the graffitier. There is nothing redeeming about it. There's no message, there's nothing at all unique about it. It exists solely so that the teenage boy who did it can show it to his friends.
People who like this stuff should move. There are enormous sections of cities in the U.S. that have been abandoned and are falling apart. Go relive your past there.
Why can't Verizon hire some artists to paint a mural? It would dissuade the (boring) tagging and add something visually interesting to a long blank wall. They could set parameters and put out a request for proposals. Hello, how about asking Cooper Union students to come up with something?
ReplyDelete"Blank ugly brown wall versus some colorful paint, character, uniqueness and texture - not much of a question here..."
ReplyDeleteWould this still be okay on the side of a church, the Empire State Building, your apartment building? The answer is it is "art" when it's on somebody's else's property, right?
The "sanitized neighborhood" comment aimed at mid-westerners, well I'm not from the midwest and lived on Ave C in 1981, and for 15 years on Ave B and I have a degree in fine arts and I always hated graffiti on someone else's property. This is vandalism pure and simple and I see no difference from some "artist" putting is tag up than a corporate logo, they both building brand recognition and contribute nothing to our culture.
Hey Shawn: A big ditto. Apparently, the EV has been overrun by people who'd like to turn it into some god forsaken ghetto that they came to glamorize.
ReplyDeleteYes, this building is just like the Empire State Building lol.
ReplyDelete"Yes, this building is just like the Empire State Building lol."
ReplyDeleteThe point is who's to say that this building should be tagged endlessly by anonymous vandals and other buildings should not? Graffiti as a social cultural statement ended a generation ago, these tags are no different from the kids from the suburbs coming to St Marks Place dressed as punk rockers. There is nothing new or different about these tags which cling to the bloated letters from the late 70's and early 80's. Not original, nothing to say does not add to cultural, just "me too" wanna be vandals.
Let me translate the meaning of this work of art for you guys. Like 99% of graffiti, it says "f-ck you". For some folks, walking around with a bellyful of need to be punished, whether it is your white-guilt or bad toilet-training, this serves a vital need. On the other hand, folks like myself don't appreciate being told "f-ck you" by strangers. Nor do we appreciate spending hours scrubbing their filth off our buildings.
ReplyDeleteMoe these aren't strangers these are locals from the projects. Anything that goes against the new sanitized whitewashed EV is a plus. This isn't a church or the ESB. This is a Verizon building. Screw Verizon. And this is part of a culture. Maybe its not part of the Midwestern scene. And an art degree doesn't make you am expert on anything except the Starbucks you work at.
ReplyDeleteDon't inflict your hateful 'culture' on me, fellas. Keep your poison to yourself, as I will surely resist you.
ReplyDeleteMidwest? Art degree? Starbucks?
Close. Live down here 30 years, drive a small truck to pay the rent, proud high school graduate, well almost.
Why you losers need me to be poor, not formally educated, and a former ghetto dweller to have the right to an opinion is beyond me, but ok there ya go.
And at least I participate with a longstanding screen name rather than anonymously.
Everyone is playing "I'm more ghetto than you" and "fuck the man,.... man". This shit graffiti is tired as hell, a left over social and possibly artistic expression from 30 + years ago. This is old school rebellion without the cause. The Verizon building is just an easy mark for these chicken ass punks. I would believe there was some bit of a statement were they go after Starbucks, Ihop or 7-11 but me thinks they like those places would not dare. Graffiti is as old as Pompeii but this shit is copy cat 70's 80's and needs no respect, paint it over and do it often.
ReplyDeleteWhat some of you libs fail to see is that these " graffiti artists" are tagging up. They are tagging their id or name that they go by in the streets. Theres no relevance! Theres no art! If it were to actually look creative then it will be okay. Btw ev resident 40 years. Never liked it. if there were not to be any graffiti the property value would rise and the neighborhood would look less sketchy. Its a beautiful unique neighborhood with unique people tarnished by idiots with a spray can.
ReplyDeleteI don't see why Verizon doesn't pay an off duty cop to watch this at night & arrest the scumbags that keep doing this. Nothing like a day in the slammer to adjust your attitude.
ReplyDeletePlease tuck your polo shirt into you salmon shorts and flip flop your bourgeois values someplace else.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 8/10 8:38pm, Bourgeois values? As opposed to petite bourgeois?
ReplyDeleteANON 7:02
ReplyDeleteGood!
We don
t want the property values to rise!
It's fucking ridiculous.
So grafitti is a "fuck you"? Ok, then expect a "fuck you" back in the form of being arrested, jailed, and sentenced to community service eradicating graf if you're caught.
ReplyDeleteMoe you are slightly less anonymous than others so zip it with your toughguy shit.
Anon 8:38- The shirt is salmon. The shorts are blue & white pinstripe.
ReplyDeleteGraffiti has been around since Ancient Greek and Egyptian times. And always a mix of messages, subtle, humorous, and even profane.
ReplyDeleteGood luck getting rid of it.