Posts Tagged ‘New York City Graffiti’

“DICK HEAD” Vallone Urges DA: Get Tough With Graffiti Vandal

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

Anti-graffiti warrior City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. has asked Queens DA Richard Brown to prosecute an Astoria graffiti vandal “to the fullest extent of the law, even if it means going to trial”.

“They caught this punk red-handed, now we should make sure he pays for destroying our neighborhoods,” Vallone declared. “I want this crime etched on his criminal record forever.”

Vallone was talking about KXXXX AXXX, 32, who he described as a career criminal. AXXX was arrested by 114 Precinct cops for spray painting the Marathon Bank branch on Broadway last Thursday.

AXXX was arrested after a brief chase. The officers said he had in his possession at the time etching acid, which Vallone described as a new graffiti tool that vandals use to permanently mark windows on buildings and subways. This dangerous product cost the MTA $11 million a year for window replacements, he said.

Vallone said AXXX, whose tag is “SIDE”, has a long criminal history, including arrests for burglary, robbery and drugs.

Possession of etching acid makes AXXX’s case particularly egregious, Vallone said, because, unlike other forms of graffiti, some of which can be painted over or cleaned, etching acid burns streaks that cannot be removed into materials. In addition, the lawmaker said, the substance can also be extremely dangerous. If someone comes into contact with freshly applied acid, it can cause serious burns.—John Toscano

Tags: ,
Posted in Graffiti News, Jail Time, New Graffiti Laws, New York Graffiti, Pig Enforcement, Politics | 8 Comments »

Graffiti Writer Utah slapped with $10,000 bail tag

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

A globe-trotting graffiti goon accused of desecrating historic Back Bay with her artistic upchuck was held on $10,000 cash bail yesterday after several of her victims painted a picture of solidarity by standing up in court.

“We want every community to push back and clean up,” Anne Swanson, co-chairman of The Graffiti NABBers, told the Herald. NABB stands for Neighborhood Association of Back Bay.

The terrorist taggers the city and private citizens mop up after are “young people who think it’s a cool thing to do and just don’t think about the rest of us. They have no developed social conscience,” said Swanson, who has a degree in fine art.

Graffiti, she said, “has nothing to do with art. It’s pure ego.”

Danielle Bremner, 26 – a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, whose mother is a high school teacher and whose father is a retired Big Apple cop – pleaded not guilty in Boston Municipal Court to 33 counts of tagging.The pale, lank-haired woman who signs her work “Utah” has been a fugitive from prosecution in Boston since May 2007. Bremner faces similar charges in East Boston, Quincy and her native New York. She was captured in August at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport returning from a summer spent backpacking across Europe with friends.

Prosecutor Patrick Driscoll Jr. said Bremner is to blame for “tens of thousands of dollars” in damages to Back Bay buildings, much of which was documented in photographs by Swanson and presented to Judge Annette Forde.

Bremner’s attorney, William Keefe, told Forde his client has little reason to flee.

“The probable disposition in this case is going to be a lengthy suspended sentence,” he predicted.

But Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, told the Herald, “Graffiti in any neighborhood contributes to a climate of lawlessness, and that’s a climate we won’t tolerate.”

[Via:bostonherald.com]

Tags: , ,
Posted in bombing, Graffiti News, International, Jail Time, New Graffiti Laws, New York Graffiti, Pig Enforcement, Politics, Street Bombing, Who Got Bagged?, Who's Up? | 13 Comments »

‘DOPE’ accused of graffiti vandalism on Staten Island’s South Shore

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

An 18-year-old from Staten Island’s Meiers Corner neighborhood was arrested after being caught red-handed while spray-painting the tag “DOPE” on a mailbox and an electrical box at the intersection of Stieg and Barlow avenues in Great Kills on Thursday.

Christopher X. XXXXXX, of Gansevoort Boulevard, faces 20 days in jail after admitting to that crime and another one which he and four others are accused of spray-painting a van. The van incident occurred Wednesday on nearby Country Woods Lane.

Christopher, of Gansevoort Boulevard, pleaded guilty at his arraignment today in Stapleton Criminal Court to two misdemeanor counts of making graffiti — one for each episode.

Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. told the defendant he would be sentenced as a youthful offender to a combined 20 days in jail, three years’ probation and 20 days of community service. Sentencing is set for Nov. 14.

Tags: ,
Posted in Graffiti News, Jail Time, New York Graffiti, Pig Enforcement, Street Bombing, Who Got Bagged?, Who's Up? | No Comments »

DA: subway graffiti work of Dutch ‘graffiti tourist’

Friday, September 26th, 2008

The words “Big Apple” often conjure up an image of tourists in hats gawking at skyscrapers in the middle of Manhattan. But a new class of visitors — known as graffiti tourists — are now visiting New York City.
A Dutch native was the first to be labeled a graffiti tourist in Queens after allegedly spray painting a No. 7 subway car at Roosevelt Avenue and Willets Point Boulevard in Flushing last week.

“City officials and anti-graffiti activists have worked very hard over the years —with great success — to keep our subways, highways and buildings from becoming the graffiti-scarred eyesores they were in the past,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “Unfortunately, there is now a serious and growing problem of international graffiti tourism, with graffiti vandals coming to the United States — and especially here to New York City, which is considered the birthplace of hip hop graffiti — to vandalize property.”
Robbert Boxem, 23, of Zwolle, Holland, was indicted on charges of third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree reckless endangerment: he allegedly led a police officer on a dangerous foot chase along the elevated subway tracks after he was caught spray painting.
The nine-count indictment also included charges of making graffiti, third-degree criminal trespass and possession of graffiti instruments. Boxem reportedly spray painted his tag, “KRAE,” in four colors on one side of a subway car.
Following his arrest around 2:15 a.m. on Sept. 9, Boxem was released on $5,000 bail and scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 18. He failed to show up in court for the arraignment and a judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest, according to district attornery spokeswoman Helen Peterson.
Boxem could face additional charges for bail jumping, as well as have his bail revoked, Peterson said. He is now considered a fugitive. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
Calls to Boxem’s lawyer, Marco Wright, we not immediately returned.
The graffiti tourist and two partners, who evaded arrest allegedly spray painted a total of three tags on two cars, causing more than $1,000 in damage. According to the indictment, Police Officer Edwardo Segui, of the Transit Bureau Citywide Vandals Task Force, and fellow officers spotted the three perpetrators and began chasing them.
While his partners escaped, Boxem allegedly led Segui onto live subway tracks in a location through which a subway train had just passed. Boxem is said to have then jumped off the tracks, down to a viaduct and into the street, where he was captured.
It is believed that Boxem was in the city to attend an international graffiti event known as Meeting of Styles, which was scheduled to take place on Sept. 6 and 7, according to Brown.
As of press time, police had not located Boxem.

[Via:www.zwire.com]

Tags: ,
Posted in Graffiti News, International, New York Graffiti, Pig Enforcement, Train Bombing, Who Got Bagged?, Who's Up? | 1 Comment »

Graffiti at stadium a ‘thank you’ wall

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

NEW YORK — Ray Negron was a trouble-making high school kid when he spray-painted graffiti on a wall at Yankee Stadium in 1973 and instantaneously became part of team lore.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner caught him in the act, and Negron was locked up, but not before Steinbrenner extended his generosity and made Negron bat boy for that night’s game. He went on to become Steinbrenner’s special assistant and works for the Boss to this day.

On Thursday, Negron was back in the Bronx and painting up a wall, but not in a mischievous way. He helped put finishing touches on likenesses of Steinbrenner and player and broadcaster Bobby Murcer on a mural next to the stadium, adding two Yankee greats to a wall that already includes images of Mickey Mantle, Thurman Munson, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other stars who played in pinstripes.

Negron said he felt he had come full circle by working on the mural, and he wanted to send a message to Steinbrenner and the Yankees in the historic ballpark’s final week.

“This is a way of being able to say thank you,” he said, moments after helping complete the Steinbrenner image. Fans heading to the stadium stopped by and snapped pictures as the mural was finished.

It shows Steinbrenner looking at the Yankee players with his arm around a little boy, representing the many children he has helped over the years.

Murcer died of brain cancer in July at 62. The only Yankee to play with both Mantle and Don Mattingly, he had a distinguished career on the field before moving to the broadcast booth.

New York plays its final game in Yankee Stadium on Sunday before the park is torn down. The team is building a new stadium across the street.

But the mural will last.

“This wall isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” Negron said.

[www.post-gazette.com]

Tags:
Posted in Graffiti News, New York Graffiti, Permission Wall, Street Art | No Comments »

Truck Burner!

Monday, September 15th, 2008

9.15.08 – Brooklyn 5:30pm
Nice.

Tags:
Posted in Graffiti Photos, iPhone Blogging, iPhone Photos, New York Graffiti | 1 Comment »

Graffitists seek fame by tagging in New York City

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Graffiti doesn’t seem to be much of a problem in Port Washington. Not along Port Washington Boulevard. And certainly not on Graywood Lane.

That’s where XregorX XiancX, 24, lives. But the place where XiancX puts his graffiti tag, VELO, is some 20 miles away, in Astoria, according to authorities. Police sources say more taggers are doing their work in the five boroughs because it gets them more attention, among other taggers and on Web sites dedicated to graffiti.

“This is how they make a name for themselves,” says one source. “You get a lot of attention if you tag in the city.”

XiancX was indicted in May 2007, accused in two Astoria incidents of painting VELO along Amtrak railroad tracks, and on the wall of Thessalikon Pastry Shop, on 31st Avenue.He was also accused in a third incident – trespassing on the elevated subway tracks at 31st Street and Grand Avenue. That incident knocked XiancX off his feet for awhile as he fell and broke his leg while running along the tracks in a failed attempt to escape police.

XiancX in April pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief. He’s due back in court July 9, when he will be sentenced to five years’ probation. He must also pay $2,500 restitution to Amtrak and Thessalikon.

“I have nothing personal with the guy,” says Nick Droukas, 47, the owner of Thessalikon. “I just want to fix my business. I do business here. It doesn’t look good to have this on the wall.”

Xianca’s lawyer says there’s no city-suburb dynamic here, no desire by his client to make his mark in the city. “He’s just a local kid who grew up in Queens,” said Stephen Mahler. “It’s not like he’s going to the city from Long Island for graffiti.”

But police sources say differently. For years, police say they’ve seen Europeans cross the Atlantic to spray paint or scrawl their tags on subways, on bridges, on buildings, even videotaping their exploits so they can play superstar when they return home. But they don’t always come from so far away.

Last year, Newsday told the story of JA, Jonathan Avildsen. His dad, John Avildsen, made a name for himself in Hollywood, as a movie director who won the Oscar for “Rocky.”

The son, however, chose a different form of expression, tagging for so long he’s a graffiti legend. He has been arrested a number of times, according to authorities. But he often disappears for long stretches and heads back to his home in Westchester, sources say, allowing him to stay under the radar until he decides to tag again.

XiancX is part of a crew of taggers, sources say. But whether XiancX has all-world aspirations for his graffiti is unclear. He did not respond to a request for comment left at his home and on his phone.

Mahler, who describes XiancX as “a full-time student,” doesn’t want him talking because of his pending court case.

The Queens district attorney’s office says “the conviction speaks for itself,” though Mahler says he tried to convince XiancX to go to trial because no one actually saw him scrawl his tag.

“He didn’t want to take the chance of possibly going to jail,” Mahler said of XiancX. “I was disappointed because I thought this was just creative lawyering on behalf of the DA’s office.”

But police and other law enforcement sources say a graffiti tag is as unique to the tagger as his signature – an argument that has lead to a number of successful prosecutions in recent years and allowed authorities to build stronger cases against graffiti suspects.

XiancX, they said, is someone known to them from previous VELO taggings: a police source says he is part of a small crew of taggers. Cops warn that more and more, even someone new to the graffiti game is likely to wind up in an NYPD database as the department pays closer attention to a quality of life crime that it feels creates a sense of disorder if left unchecked.

Police now have Graffiti-Stat, weekly meetings in which police supervisors are questioned about graffiti complaints and how they are being addressed, and it even instructs its community affairs officers to bring along a videotape to the various neighborhood meetings they attend.
[Via:www.newsday.com]

Tags: ,
Posted in bombing, Graffiti News, New Graffiti Laws, New York Graffiti, Pig Enforcement, Politics, Street Bombing, Who Got Bagged?, Who's Up? | 2 Comments »