Smug councilman Peter Vallone Jr. aka “The Man Who Hates Graffiti,” is on a new crusade: anti-public art! “The arts are supposed to generate conversation but not apprehension and fear,” he grumbled, reprimanding Kim Beck’s skywriting project and presumably, any art that can be misinterpreted by terror-phobics and people with a lack of imagination. (Photo: Bowery Boogie)
Ha, of course it won’t, but Councilman Peter Vallone is patting himself on the back for legislation he proposed awhile back that kinda takes effect today, banning solid roll down gates for storefronts. Moving forward, if a businesses are going to install metal shutters, they must provide 70% visibility. The City’s anti-graffiti spokesman says they’re nothing more than ribbed canvasses for vandals and will end up making a huge impact in ridding the streets of graffiti. Owners of locations with existing solid gates, have until 2026 to replace them, giving graffiti writers a 15 year head start to innovate. Read more »
We’ve never been fans of Peter Vallone Jr., but will admit that he’s spot on about plans to rename the Queensboro Bridge after Ed Koch. “This is part of the history of Queens the same way the Brooklyn Bridge is the history of Brooklyn,” said the name recognition councilman. It’s also stupid, costs money, and will never catch on. Plus, people should be buried before things get named after them. The City Council is expected to vote on the measure shortly.
Yesterday, New York’s City Council launched a new offensive against graffiti writers and legitimate legal etching enthusiasts, approving legislation requiring store owners to keep files on anyone who buys glass etching acid. Acid dealers that don’t record customers’ personal info, including their name, address, as well as the date and quantity of their purchase, and make those records available to police for a year, could be fined up to $250. In a bid to discourage vandalism, city law already prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing the etching acid more commonly used for art and industrial purposes. Read more »
The cruelly unusual Rockefeller Drug Laws represent some of the worst penal policies New York State has ever adopted. Signed in 1973 by the extravagantly wealthy governor at the time, Nelson A. Rockefeller, they “mandated minimum prison terms for the possession or sale of narcotics.” Well, the laws have basically been an utter failure since their inception. They never curbed drug use and basically put a disproportionate amount of minorities in jail. Thankfully, the New York State Assembly finally decided the archaic laws need to be reformed and will reinstate “judicial discretion to the sentencing process, striking a balance between punishment for violent and repeat drug convicts and rehabilitation alternatives for lower level and first-time offenders.”
Continuing his fanatical quest to eradicate graffiti, Queens Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. is pushing a proposal to remove shutter security gates from storefronts around the city. He believes the typical shutter design encourages graffiti and wants all new gates sold and installed to be mostly see-through mesh, because you can’t possibly vandalize that. The City disagrees with the plan, saying it’s rash to force new expenses on businesses already facing challenging startup costs. This idea, like so many others from Vallone is destined to fail. A better alternative for Vallone’s bid to clean up storefronts would be to enlist the help of the gate masters, Exterior Surface Painting Outreach.
|Photo by Untitledname|
The spineless city councilman who relies heavily on fighting graffiti to get his name in the press, Peter Vallone Jr., will support Bloomberg’s plan to bend the will of the people by voting in favor of legislation altering term limit laws. Like Speaker Quinn and the mayor himself, Vallone opposes a referendum by voters which is how this matter has historically been resolved. Instead, he offered up some bullshit excuse about the city’s so called impending doom, “While I believe, and most people agree, that a referendum would be the best way to alter term limits, at this point I think it’s more important to make a huge improvement in our government than to insist on a special election that could cause government paralysis during these trying times.” So basically, it would be way too inconvenient to let democracy get involved. |Gotham Gazette|
Although our Peter Vallone Jr. giveaway asked readers to specifically Jokerize the zealous politician how could we deny this image depicting him as a immigrant hating pig submitted by a vandal who wished to be credited simply as THEGOVTLIES. Be sure to check out the rest of the submissions so far.
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In an effort to bring attention to a certain NYC councilman’s evil ways, ANIMAL presents the “Peter Vallone Jr. Is the Joker Giveaway.” Head over to the special page we made, download the image of the anti-graffiti zealot, Jokerize and send back. First 10 people get Dark Knight tickets, all others: glory. More details over here.
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Despite Peter Vallone Jr.’s fundamentalist hate of graffiti and his contemptuous assertion that all spraypaint wielding artists are punks or criminal enablers, he just can’t escape it. Yesterday we took a look at his personally funded soccer team posing in front of a graffiti splashed wall for their team photo and now this mural featuring his dad, failed mayoral candidate Peter Vallone Sr. and granddad Judge Charles Vallone. It was designed and painted by female graffiti pioneer LADY PINK alongside her husband SMITH, a still notorious, tunnel painting vandal (and legendary street bombing king) last month. The mural was commissioned by the Salah M. Hassanein Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens and features: “Anne Buehler, the club’s first executive director, surrounded by (clockwise from Buehler’s l.) former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr., George Skouras, Judge Charles Vallone and Salah M.Hassanein.”
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