Upper West Side, Manhattan

I thought it would be appropriate to end this series of the blog by discussing graffiti in my neighborhood. Before doing this blog, I hadn't noticed any graffiti on the Upper West Side. Once I started looking for it, I saw it was everywhere.

Some of the graffiti is part of construction sites. Some of it is on buildings, either nice brownstones or commercial sites. Regardless of what building it is on, that building is extremely expensive. Someone is either paying high rent, has massive lease or mortgage, or is sitting on millions of dollars of property. Whether or not graffiti is on it has nothing to do with how it is priced.

This series on graffiti was meant to show a number of things - graffiti might be a symptom of crime, or it might be a symptom of a large artistic presence in an area. It might be a bad influence on a neighborhood, causing property values to go down, or it could be completely irrelevant in how the homes are valued.

Sometimes graffiti matters in an urban area, and sometimes it doesn't. But the presence of graffiti in such different kinds of neighborhoods shows that one cannot judge it before looking at what it means to the area. It is impossible to generalize the effect of graffiti - good or bad.

North Philadelphia, Philadelphia

The past few posts have been about graffiti in neighborhoods that are doing relatively well. Many of them used to be impoverished or dangerous, but now they are safe neighborhoods with a lot to offer, including graffiti.

However, graffiti is still actively present in neighborhoods that are not doing well. North Philadelphia is one of these neighborhoods. It's been described as a war zone. Gangs are active in the area, which is one of the main reasons it is covered in graffiti. As the Amtrak train runs through the area on its way to stopping in Downtown Philadelphia, there are mile long strips that are overwhelmed by tags.

It's hard to tell if the graffiti in North Philadelphia has any influence over the area. People riding through on the train can tell it is not a nice place, but not just from the graffiti - from the shootings, from the abandoned houses, from the decrepit roads. On the other hand, the graffiti might not be there if the gangs were not overwhelming the area.

Graffiti in North Philadelphia is an example of how many people still think of graffiti - as a symptom of the failure of a city. It's hard to tell if graffiti has had any role in making North Philadelphia what it is today. But ultimately, when people look at North Philadelphia, what they see is graffiti - and what they see is not good.

Alphabet City, Manhattan

Anyone who has seen the play "Rent" knows about what Alphabet City used to be like. The neighborhood was chock full of homeless people who lived in abandoned houses in the area (and became known as "squatters"). Drug addicts and prostitutes overwhelmed the area...it wasn't exactly family friendly.

But Alphabet City survived. It became trendy because artists moved in, like so many neighborhoods in New York have. But some physical aspects from its past remain - many of the same houses are there (the ones that the squatters lived in) but they've been renovated. The streets and parks look the same, minus the addicts. Essentially, the neighborhood is completely recognizable.

And, of course, the graffiti is still there. However, it is not really at all controversial, at least not in the same way it is in other neighborhoods. People don't question whether it will cause crime, or decrease property value in Alphabet City. Much of the graffiti itself is done by actual Alphabet City residents (like the mural posted in this blog).


The New York Times reported that a famous graffiti artist, Angel Ortiz (aka LA II), recently restored a Keith Haring mural in the Lower East Side (just south of Alphabet City). People felt that Ortiz's tagging was a perfect addition to the mural. Haring clearly appreciated Ortiz's work, since he left one of Ortiz's tags untouched when he was painting the mural.

Graffiti does not always have to be controversial. Sometimes, everyone agrees on what it does for a neighborhood. In this case, everyone agrees its effect seems to be quite positive.

Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco

An article in the San Francisco Observer from February 2005 shows that the "war against graffiti" in San Francisco has been waging for a number of years. District 5 contains the neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury, one of the most famous and most visited areas in San Francisco. Some residents of Haight-Ashbury have taken it upon themselves to force the city to fight the spread of graffiti in their neighborhoods:

Daniel Homsey, District 5 Liaison in the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, is on a crusade to put a stop to what he calls a graffiti problem that’s out of control in District 5.
“As a city employee and a native San Franciscan, I'm truly frustrated with the graffiti. It is unbelievable what is going on. The City is spending millions of dollars on cleaning up graffiti—not on parks, kids’ after school programs, meth clinic slots,” said Homsey...
There are extensive laws on the books to penalize graffiti crimes in San Francisco.
If the graffiti damage to the property is less than $400, it’s a criminal misdemeanor. For a misdemeanor, the maximum penalty is six months in jail. First-time offenders are entitled to go to pretrial diversion and be sentenced to community service in the SFPD’s graffiti abatement program. Repeat offenders can be placed on probation for up to three years, be monitored, and have to do graffiti abatement.

However, a friend of mine recently visited Haight-Ashbury and took these pictures of the graffiti she saw in a restaurant she was dining in. This is what she said:

"The graffiti would have probably been regarded as ugly and a little disturbing anywhere else, but it just totally blended in with the quirkiness of the surroundings and added to the "charm" of the restaurant - so much that I took multiple pictures."

So, while residents of Haight-Ashbury might be fighting to get the graffiti out of their neighborhood, at least some visitors are appreciating it. In addition, the graffiti certainly hasn't led to a drop in the value of housing in the neighborhood - the median price of a home in Haight-Ashbury is $1,096,337 (compared to the median price in San Francisco, which is $656,700).

Moreover, it is impossible to ignore the counterculture history of Haight-Ashbury. The beatnik poets of the 50s, the antiwar activists of the 60s, and hippies and artists from many generations have flocked to the area for decades. Because of this history, the neighborhood still embodies that counterculture sentiment (despite the fact that many of the hippies and beatniks are long gone). People move to Haight-Ashbury because of what it represents - it is a cool place to live because of its rich history. Whether it is covered in graffiti or not, whether the residents hate the graffiti or not, people have embraced the anti-conformity past of Haight-Ashbury. Perhaps graffiti is simply the latest installment in this long counterculture tradition.

The Berlin Wall, East Berlin

The Berlin Wall was a physical and metaphorical symbol of political division in Germany from 1961 - 1990. It was built with the sole purpose of keeping two groups of people from interacting with one another. It signified the power of the East German regime (a regime that sought to suppress any opposition within its government and among its people). It said to the world, "you are not welcome, and you are not to interfere." It was, to say the least, political.


When The Berlin Wall came down, everything changed - the German people, the German government, the whole world. Politics between Western and Eastern Europe, between the United States and the Soviet Union, was completely redefined.


However, not all of the wall was dismantled. Large chunks of it remain along the former border of West and East Berlin - the most famous points are at Checkpoint Charlie and the Spree River. Berliners didn't want the wall completely destroyed because the people wanted a reminder of their past (a sentiment that was shared all over the world).

Graffiti played a significant role in the history of the Berlin Wall. When Berlin was divided, graffiti was sprawled across the wall on its West side - whether or not it was the intention of the people spraying their aerosol cans, it was a symbol of protest against the East German government. People could not graffiti on the East side of the wall because of the laws against freedom of expression (the only kinds of art that were acceptable in East Berlin were the kinds that were deemed "appropriate" (aka pro-regime) by the East German government).


Now, the section of the wall along the Spree River is called the East Side Gallery. After the wall came down, artists from all over the world came to paint murals on the wall's East side. Graffiti artists are still active on the wall - many of the original murals have been tagged and covered with graffiti. A lot of people were very unhappy about this (there is a group committed to restoring the artwork on the wall - here is a link to their website).

However, people do not focus on the fact that much of the original murals in the East Side Gallery were graffiti murals - some of them were made (at least in part) with aerosol cans. In these cases, graffiti art is a political symbol in the same way it was when West Berlin protesters used it. Graffiti has continued to be part of urban life in Berlin, in positive and negative ways, but its past and present significance makes one thing clear: it is both a tool and a symptom of politics.

Long Island City, Queens

Long Island City, specifically the building known as "5 Pointz," is the graffiti artist's Mecca.

Graffiti artists from all over the world come to Queens to temporarily leave their mark on the corner of Jackson Avenue and Davis Street. Meres One, the self-proclaimed "CEO" of 5 Pointz, has a website - 5ptz.com - where he displays the artwork that is currently on the building. Every few weeks the murals change and new artists have an opportunity to come in and show their love for the aerosol can. However, before anyone can start working on 5 Pointz, Meres One needs to see a sample of their work and ok it.

The other thing to mention about 5 Pointz is that it is completely legal. The landlord of the building granted Meres One permission to graffiti there (so no one is trespassing or committing acts of vandalism when they graffiti). In addition, all artists must have a permit in order to do anything to any part of the graffiti walls. Violators, Meres One assures us, will be prosecuted.

5 Pointz has managed to integrate the counter-culture aspect of graffiti art with the laws of New York City. Not only that, 5 Pointz has been embraced by the community in Long Island City. This is partly because 5 Pointz is located across the street from P.S. 1, the contemporary art wing of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). The people who live in and visit the area are art lovers (they wouldn't be there if they weren't).

Long Island City was not a desirable place to live for many years - despite its close proximity to Manhattan, the train tracks run outdoors through the area, so the neighborhood can be very noisy even late at night. While there are some nice brownstones and row houses in the area, a lot of it is old, decrepit industrial space. As we saw in Williamsburg, artists often end up saving a neighborhood like this. 5 Pointz, and graffiti culture in general, fits nicely with their efforts.

Inglewood, Los Angeles

Last week, the state of California passed a law that forces everyone convicted of graffiti vandalism to remove the graffiti themselves, and (in some cases) keep the surface clean for up to a year.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the story on Thursday. The author of the law, Assemblyman Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles) said:

"By having to clear up the mess, they would realize how much effort and cost is involved in tidying up after them."

However, others feared that gang retaliation would be a significant problem and lead to taggers having to risk their lives in the process of cleaning off the walls:

"The cause for a lot of violence involves graffiti and either crossing it out or removing it," said Khalid Shah, director of Stop the Violence, a gang intervention program.
He said Homeboy Industries closed a program that put gang members to work removing graffiti after two young people were shot to death while cleaning walls.

The debate over the potential benefit and harm of this legislation (which Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law last Wednesday) makes one thing clear: graffiti is an urban policy issue. Politicians and gang members are both players in urban politics, and the judgments each group makes about graffiti goes beyond aesthetics.

Politicians might say they want to remove graffiti because it is an eyesore, but their criticism of it goes beyond what it looks like. Assemblyman Davis is a classic example of this: he has devoted a large part of his career in the state government to fighting crime in his district (see Smart Voter for more information). Crime prevention in Los Angeles has a lot to do with minimizing the influence of gangs in certain areas. Tagging lets it be known that a gang has a presence in a neighborhood - it is a physical sign of intimidation.

Likewise, gang members don't sprawl their tag in an area because they have a desire to express themselves artistically - they tag to mark territory, to show their strength. When their graffiti is taken down, it is an insult to their authority.

In the context of crime prevention, how people address graffiti in urban politics is dependent on how both of these groups feel. In some neighborhoods, the community can judge graffiti and decide for itself what its artistic value is. However, in other neighborhoods, the leaders (whether they are politicians or gang members) make the decisions.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Think of an area with bad housing stock that was home to a massive oil spill, has poorly paved sidewalks and "views" of abandoned smoke stacks...does that sound like some place you'd want to live?

No? Then you're not a hipster.

I am talking about Williamsburg - one of the trendiest areas in Brooklyn, New York. In true New York fashion, the artists first came in the 1970s when the rents were close to nothing. Then, the hipsters followed. They brought with them a love of the bohemian lifestyle...and overpriced coffee. Now, Williamsburg has both - McCarren Pool (which is about to be redone, good or bad news depending who you ask) and Oslo Coffee are good examples of each.


Guess what else the area has? Graffiti! Loads of it! And I know I said I wasn't going to be making any artistic judgments, but most of it really isn't that pretty. But you know what? Neither is the rest of Williamsburg, so it fits quite well.

This part of Brooklyn goes completely against the common perception of what an ideal place to live is. But there is a large community of people (some of whom live in Manhattan) that flock to Williamsburg for the concerts, the food and the nightlife. So many people want to live there that it is no longer affordable for the artists who moved there in the first place ("so goes the neighborhood...")

Moreover, the graffiti in the area fits with its atmosphere - if all of it was removed, Williamsburg would almost look too clean. Some areas of a city are not meant to be polished...many people like a little bit of grit, a place that is rough around the edges. Graffiti is part of making that happen.