NYC to ease graffiti removal (New York, York: crime, transfer, neighborhood)

[cyrusjul]

NYC to ease graffiti removal - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

Now, owners must allow the city to clean up graffiti on their property. The new legislation would give the city authority to remove graffiti unless a property owner says otherwise

So what was the law before?

[Fred314X]

The city probably didn't have permission to tell owners what to do on their own property. In any case, let's see how effective this new law is--and how strictly it's going to be enforced.

[eek]

hmm...sounds good to me.

[ddhboy]

Until the city removes a mural because its "unsightly". The firestorm is inevitable on this one.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by ddhboy

Until the city removes a mural because its "unsightly". The firestorm is inevitable on this one.

That particular firestorm came and went more than a decade ago, when some "artist" put up a big sheet of rusted metal at Federal Plaza and was offended when the public demanded that it be taken down.

As to something being "unsightly," that's not the point. The point is that when you put graffiti where it doesn't belong, you're committing an act of vandalism. Nobody has made any judgements on the quality of the graffiti; it doesn't belong there, and that's why it needs to be removed, erased, or otherwise deleted.

[AC/PHILLY/NJ/NYC]

Hopefully, New York City enforces these laws. I believe that crime stats would lower across all five boroughs because graffiti is always linked to gang violence.

[samyn on the green]

Yes as soon as the walls are buffed the offenders will convert to playing scrabble with their free time instead of going bombing. In New York graffiti is more about getting fame by posting your name all over the city than gang turf marking.


Just what the city needs in a financial crisis, revenue is down 40% but let's expand programs and take away owners property rights and transfer them to the city. The city should be cutting program after program to downsize spending to match the dwindling tax revenue.

Originally Posted by AC/PHILLY/NJ/NYC

Hopefully, New York City enforces these laws. I believe that crime stats would lower across all five boroughs because graffiti is always linked to gang violence.

[OyCrumbler]

I think they're working off of the "broken windows" theory where a small measure like this will signal to others that this is a "safe" neighborhood and cause people to act accordingly.

[analyticalkeys]

Originally Posted by AC/PHILLY/NJ/NYC

Hopefully, New York City enforces these laws. I believe that crime stats would lower across all five boroughs because graffiti is always linked to gang violence.

Graffiti is not ALWAYS linked to gang violence. You can easily find graffiti in any neighborhood, even the "safe" ones. Taggers aren't necessarily gang members...

[Henna]

Maybe the city didn't have the authority to remove it themselves, but they certainly went about giving fines and tickets - remember when the 6 year old girl got a warning from the dept of sanitation for "graffiti" (chalk drawing on sidewalk)?
Move Over, Ket! City Targets Child's Chalk "Graffiti" - Gothamist: New York City News, Food, Arts & Events

I hope they don't use our taxpayer funds to go around power-washing chalk drawings off of sidewalks in Brooklyn.


Here is part of the article I linked to:
"Oh, no, is the city going to ban the purchase of Crayola Sidewalk Chalk? The Brooklyn Paper exposes the "new face of vandalism?": 6-year-old Natalie Shea, whose mother got a warning letter from the Department of Sanitation about the chalk drawings her daughter drew on their front stoop. The letter read, “PLEASE REMOVE THE GRAFFITI FROM YOUR PROPERTY. FAILURE TO COMPLY … MAY RESULT IN ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST YOU.”

In an article that almost reads like a story from the Onion, it turns out that a neighbor called 311 to complain about the drawings, hence the DOS letter. The definition of graffiti and law enforcement around it are both specific and vague. Mod cut: copyright violation