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.