Mark Ecko vs. The City of New York (a brief pseudo-political rant)

Mark Ecko and a bunch of teenagers are suing New York over the new anti-graffiti laws, which ban people under 21 from possessing spray paint or broad tip markers. While Ecko probably wants to use it as a springboard for further decriminalization of graffiti, their argument that the law as it stands now is unconstitutional has got to have some footing. The fact that the city can prevent legal adults from buying a totally legal, harmless product is kind of terrifying. This is, of course, the continuation of Guilliani-era Broken Windows policing, which says that tolerance of minor crimes gives the impression that all crime is tolerable; there's any number of studies to demonstrate that isn't true, but the city will cling to it forever, because it proves that they did something to reduce crime in New York, as opposed to it just being a product of decreasing crime rates everywhere. On the page of AM New York that had the Mark Ecko story, there was also a story about "scratchiti" (which is a great term, since "graffiti" is the plural of the Italian word "graffito," meaning "scratched"), in which a city employee dubs scratched names on windows of the subway the "new scourge" of subway riders. Personally, I think the new scourge of subway riders is when they shut down your subway every weekend for an entire month. There's better things the MTA and the city can be spending time and energy on. Does graffiti really bother anyone? I didn't live in New York in the 70's and 80's when it was everywhere, but I have been to Berlin now, which is absolutely covered in it. And I really don't remember it ruining my experience of the city. New York City officials continue to believe that oppressive "quality of life" laws make the city a more pleasant place to live, while they really just stifle the sort of energies that make people want to live here in the first place.

Furthermore, might the law have racist connotations? If my pasty roommate, who is only 20, were to attempt to buy a can of spray paint, do we think anyone would refuse to sell it to him? Just a thought.

Anyway, I'm rooting for Mark Ecko, even if it is just him drumming up publicity for his video game.