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.

In the meantime, Vallone says he’s super proud of this accomplishment and it could be his future campaign platform:

Of all the bills I’ve been part of, this one will have the biggest impact on New York City. Maybe I’ll make it part of my platform if I run for Congress.

We can’t wait.

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.

Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., the bill’s sponsor that failed to pass a law requiring people be licensed to buy the glass-eating liquid, claims, “This will have a deterrent effect if people know their identification will be kept on record.”

In addition to questions about how these records will be managed and disposed of, there are serious concerns by the NYCLU and others about the bill’s civil rights implications. Councilmember Charles Barron, who voted against the bill with Melissa Mark, calls it “an intrusion into the lives of artists,” and declares that, “We cannot turn this into a police state to stop graffiti.” As etching acid can still be acquired countless ways, even brewed at home, it’s more likely the new law will generate a lot of personal information about home hobbyists, instead of curbing the sort of vandalism photographed below.

Top photo by Ari Moore

But not everyone was so convinced. Political posturer and anti-graffiti asshole City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., thinks the backward looking laws should remain in place:

Vallone said in a statement that the “so-called ‘draconian’” laws were passed in the first place to give prosecutors power in the sentencing of drug criminals. “This action,” he said of the reforms, “will bring us back to those days” when “judges were putting drug dealers back on the street over prosecutors’ objections.”
“These dealers are not addicts who need treatment,” Vallone went on, “they are criminals who bring death to our children.”

|Queens Courier|