Graffiti: artistic or just plain aggravating?

Dating back to man’s first caves and Rome’s ancient catacombs, public wall art has undoubtedly created an unwavering community war.

Today, New York City residents continue to argue whether graffiti is an artist’s right to freedom of speech or rather a form of vandalism. Although most angry property owners who wake up to tagged walls would say the graffiti is only done by degenerates to simply cause destruction, there are actually some productive uses for it.

Louis Vuitton recently hired Stephen Sprouse to tag their Soho flagship storefront on Greene Street for its hip new promotional campaign. Many contemporary art critics see artistic value in graffiti and consider it an effective tool of social emancipation and political persuasion. Soho also has a retail graffiti store on West Broadway called Scrap Yard which sells all sorts of graffiti paraphernalia.

For random artists spraying property without permission, however, the outlook is pretty grim. According to NYC.gov, local law § 10-117 prohibits the defacement of property and under §145.05 finds a person guilty of criminal mischief in the third degree when he or she damages another person’s property in an amount exceeding $250.

In order to enforce the issue, Mayor Bloomberg setup a few anti-graffiti initiatives. For starters, he’s willing to pay a reward of up to $500 to any person who provides information leading to the apprehension, persecution or conviction of any person who vandalizes property. His Consumer Affairs Unit maintains Graffiti Free NYC, along with Rodent Taskforce and Illegal Dumping efforts.

For those displeased with the public expressions that pop up on their buildings, Graffiti Free NYC offers free graffiti removal, a community-based volunteer paint program, and graffiti combat initiatives with the NYPD.

On the other hand, for spray paint artists desperately seeking public space, there is refuge. 5 Pointz Graffiti is an organization which legally permits artists to make an appointment and express their passion onto a building across the street from P.S. 1 in Long Island City, Queens. This building is covered top to bottom including the windows and roof.

So whether or not graffiti keeps plain, boring neighborhoods fresh and lively – or whether it’s simply an ugly, out of control property plague – you decide.