Graffiti City

     Graffiti has been a part of New York City culture since the 1960’s. On nearly every block of every neighborhood a name or design, born of spray paint, melds with a city surface. Even the sound of the word, “graffiti”, seems to mimic the motion inherent in its meaning. An artist takes hold of the can and with the wave of his arm, like a magician casting a spell, the surface is transformed.
     For some, graffiti is about putting their names in as many places as possible, known as “bombing“. For others, it is an elaborate art executed with a painstaking attention to detail. They take time to plan their designs, choose its location and breath life into imagination with the hiss of a paint can. A graffiti artist named “CRASH” has even had his work displayed in art museums.
Still, building owners are not always happy when the sometimes indecipherable markings adorn their walls;  and the City would like to see the urban canvas wiped clean.    To help continue its efforts, the City has invested in 23 new vans dedicated to the “graffiti-free” initiative enacted by former Mayor Guiliani.                                                                                                                  “The Bloomberg administration’s successful efforts to combat New York City’s seemingly intractible graffiti problem has helped make the City a better place to live and do business in all five boroughs,” said Giovanni Taffa, head of the Graffiti-Free New York operation. 
    For no charge, a graffitied wall will be repainted or power-washed.  All it takes is a call to 311 and filling out a form.  In 2007, the 62nd precinct, which includes Gravesend, received the fourth highest number of graffiti complaints. There are more than 30 graffiti clean-ups pending in the area since the middle of October last year.
Despite the City’s actions, it is hard to imagine a completely “graffiti-free” city. Not just because of the logistics, but also what an unmarked city would be like.  There is something so NYC about graffiti; the different forms it takes, different styles, the new pieces constantly popping up and the images that have never faded.  For five decades paint has covered the City.  Graffiti artists will no doubt continue to paint the town red, and every other color of the rainbow.