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September 22, 2024 Bucky Turco

Graffiti writers equipped with mountain climbing gear and spray paint, rappelled down the iconic Hell Gate Bridge like a well-trained SWAT team, and unleashed a torrent of public art on the span’s massive stone towers. Under the cover of darkness, the daredevil-artists risked it all, as they dangled about eight stories above the ground—at the […]

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January 13, 2023 Bucky Turco

Over a month’s time, graffiti-trained, NYC artist VEW painted nearly two dozen pieces in the historic Park Avenue Tunnel. The thoroughfare has been shut to traffic for a few years now, with the roadway undergoing renovations by the DOT. This closure created the perfect opportunity for VEW (and other writers) to get up, in broad […]

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November 30, 2022 Freddy Alva

Graffiti in NYC is not a static, monolithic entity in 2022. From the rudimentary beginnings of the pioneers to the golden era and its present day infusion of inroads into corporate, art world and commercial entities; what still matters the most is the street. Where, and just as important, how you get up is of […]

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August 22, 2022 Chris FREEDOM Pape

RIFF 170 expanding the boundaries of what piecing could be in 1973. 📷: Erik Calonius “Everything is connected to everything else. Urban clutter is connected to air pollution, to noise, to foul water. Agri-business is connected to the use of pesticides. Lifestyles are connected to solid wastes. And, so on.” Those were the guidelines the […]

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July 10, 2015 Bucky Turco

Nowadays, graffiti is an art form that can be found in the collections of major museums and cultural institutions throughout the world, but back in the ’70s and ’80s, it was considered a symbol of urban blight and lawlessness in the city. In July 1985, mustached WPIX reporter Alec Roberts spoke to some New Yorkers […]

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July 1, 2015 Liam Mathews

City Councilman Costa Constantinides, who represents Astoria and parts of Woodside, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, has set aside $52,500 of his $710,000 in annual discretionary funds to clean up graffiti in his district, DNAinfo reports. “Our sidewalks and buildings are windows to the neighborhood and it is important to keep them clean and graffiti-free,” […]

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June 24, 2015 Bucky Turco

Just across the Hudson in Jersey City there’s a seemingly abandoned auto repair shop covered in graffiti art. Its entire exterior is doused with spray painted characters and letters that appear to explode off the wall in vibrant shapes and colors. And it doesn’t stop there. (Click gallery above to see every piece.) Scores of […]

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June 22, 2015 Bucky Turco

I’ve known SABIO (Supreme Articulation Bouncing In Orbit) for over a decade and didn’t even realize it until I met him in person as SABIO. Throughout the years, I’ve seen the Clark Kent-version of him at galleries, bars and and other art events since the mid-2000s, but never had an inkling he was the city’s […]

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June 16, 2015 Aymann Ismail

Scores of urban artists from across several generations took part in Ad Hoc Art’s 6th Annual Welling Court Mural Project this weekend. Located in Astoria, Queens, the walls stretch for blocks and feature a diverse array of talent, such as Abe Lincoln, Jr., AM, Bishop203, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Col Wallnuts, Dan Witz, Ellis Gallagher, […]

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June 8, 2015 Aymann Ismail

ANIMAL paired SABE, a NYC-based graffiti writer and artist, with Carter Cruise, an adult film star and deejay. The mission? Teach her graffiti. Cruise met up with us in an industrial area near the Queens-Brooklyn border. SABE pulled out a drippy marker and wrote his name and then hers. He handed her the mop filled […]

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