THE NEW YORK TIMES
April 25, 2006
Graffiti Back in Subways, Indelibly This Time
By THOMAS J. LUECK
Of all the images from the 1970's and 1980's of a city out of control,
perhaps none is etched more deeply into the public consciousness than
that
of the graffiti-covered subway train screeching into a station, every
inch
of its surface covered with a rich patina of spray-painted slashes and
scrawls.
It took decades of work and millions of dollars to clean up the trains.
But
now officials are seeing a fresh surge of subway graffiti, in which
windows
are irreparably damaged with acid. Raising the specter of the bad old
days,
transit officials are vowing to fight a problem they say is even more
menacing than the graffiti of decades past.
"Not on my watch are we going to have what John Lindsay had when he was
mayor," said Barry L. Feinstein, the chairman of the Transit Committee
of
the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, referring to the mayor who
came
into office in 1966 just as the craze for marking subway cars with
slogans,
gang names and signatures — known as "tags" — hit its stride.
"I've seen it on every line, on almost every train," said Andrew B.
Albert,
chairman of the New York City Riders Council, a state-sponsored
advocacy
group, who said the acid-based graffiti first appeared on subway
windows
about six months ago. Mr. Albert is a nonvoting member of the Transit
Committee, which met yesterday.
He said the most common material used by the new breed of graffiti
vandals
is Armor Etch-All, an etching acid sold in art supply stores that is
used by
craftspeople to etch into glass or other materials. To create graffiti
with
the acid, it is mixed with paint or shoe polish, Mr. Albert said. And
when
applied to subway windows, it most commonly leaves broad, sweeping,
indelible marks, which subway crews cannot remove in subway yards, as
they
do with painted graffiti.
Transit officials said that most subway windows are vulnerable and pose
an
expensive problem because they cost up to $130 each to replace. Only
the
newest of subway cars, acquired since about 2000, are resistant to the
new
generation of graffiti, because their windows are protected with Mylar,
a
plastic coating that can be peeled off and replaced.
Charles F. Seaton, a spokesman for New York City Transit, the arm of
the
transportation authority that oversees the subways, said yesterday that
one
option being explored is to apply Mylar coating to all subway car
windows,
but that the cost and effectiveness had not been determined.
Lawrence G. Reuter, the president of New York City Transit, told Mr.
Feinstein's committee that his staff would report next month on how the
subway cars were being defaced and what could be done about it.
Mr. Feinstein instructed transit officials to find out whether the
etching
acid posed a hazard to riders, as well as windows. Anyone who touches
it
before it is embedded in glass or dries could be burned, he said.
Mr. Albert said he knew of no cases of riders being burned, but the
hazard
may be serious because the current graffiti vandals tend to make their
marks
on trains that are in service. Their predecessors in the 1970's were
more
likely to sneak into subway yards and deface stationary trains when no
passengers were nearby.
Another difference is that the new subway graffiti usually looks like a
crude scrawl, rather than the detailed writing or representational art
that
was common in the graffiti of years past and has shown up again on the
sides
of buildings from Williamsburg to the South Bronx. The crude
etching-acid
graffiti is also easily distinguished from the messages that vandals
have
long carved into subway windows using knives or sharp objects.
The city's resurgent graffiti problem, on buildings as well as subways,
has
not escaped the notice of City Hall. In December, Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg
signed into law a ban on possession of "graffiti instruments,"
including
etching acid, by anyone under 21. Besides etching acid, the ban covers
such
things as aerosol paint and broad-tipped indelible markers, which are
used
by graffiti vandals on buildings.
Opponents of the city ban have said it infringes on freedom of speech.
Yesterday, according to The Associated Press, a lawyer said he would
file
suit today in federal court in Manhattan to challenge the ban as
"overly
broad." The lawyer, Daniel Perez, said he was representing seven high
school
and college students who are supported by Marc Ecko, a fashion
designer.
Mr. Albert said that volunteers with his group would conduct spot
checks at
art supply stores across the city to see if merchants are promoting
sales of
the etching acid.
"We want to see if it is right out there on the counter," he said.
