Vandalism has always been and still is a problem in New York City. Recently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs the city's subway system, posted notices of $500 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people who are responsible for the taggings and graffitis on the subway trains.Vandals used to spray paint the glass and plastic surfaces inside the trains. This led the MTA to install plastic coated glasses on windows and metallic surfaces on the walls to enable easy and inexpensive cleanups. The vandals are now using acids to burn through the plastic coatings and scorch the surfaces beneath them. That is why a lot of the new graffitis have drip marks on them.
I took this photo on my way home from work last Friday. You can see the signature/symbol of the vandal etched in acid on the train's window. I hope the MTA is successful in prosecuting these dumb**ses for defaceing public properties.
10 comments:
:)
anyway, it looks some kind of nice.
never saw any graffitis on the subway trains...actually its hardly to find the graffitis around this city.
jing
You manage to make look beautiful something that is an absolute disgrace. The use of acid is proof that this is not about art or fun but about destruction. It's frightening.
It is a shame, really, that so many people have to little work to do and that they resort to shock tactics hoping to gain that moment of fame. A lot of parents have some explaining to do -- I suppose they didn't teach the values of what is right and what is wrong to their spray painter children. If it is an adult then they should be thrown in prison for a while and be given a few buckets of paint and a small brush and be told to paint the jail house. Anyway. It is the sign of our times -- vandalism -- the word for it never used to exist.
oh, you're right, it's a shame, but I love some graffitis that I can't say it's vandalism. Sometimes are empty walls that seems so ugly until one graffiti painter decorates it. The thing is where it can and can not be.
Vandalism is a big problem in Istanbul too. I guess it is in all big cities. What a shame.
I agree with you about the ugliness and destruction of graffiti but I love the photo with it's red blur in the background.
Angela
I don't like defaced trains. I particularly dislike it when the vandals use ballpoint pens or knives and scratch their stupid phrases into the plastic, or use paints on upholstery.
Last time I was in NYC vandalism in NY trains was declining, at least that was my feeling… but it's already a couple of years I’ve not been there. Shame…
"Nathan Glazer in his 1979 Public Interest article, “On Subway Graffiti in New York,” understood its meaning to the riding public. Graffitists, other disorderly persons, and criminals “who rob, rape, assault, and murder passengers ... are part of one world of uncontrollable predators.” Graffiti signaled citizens that public officials were unable to stop even relatively minor lawbreakers, let alone serious predators: Graffiti told citizens the subways were out of control."(http://www.city-journal.org/article01.php?aid=1614)
I debated on using this photo for the blog because I, too love the blurry red color in the background. I did not want to glamourize or make graffitis look beautiful because 99% of them aren't. I took some photos of really ugly graffitis but in the end, aesthetic reason won. :-)
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