Graffiti and Graffiti Art are both getting a lot of notice in town and in the Media in general. The upside is that these modern day hieroglyphics are becoming accepted more widely as a counter culture and art form. However there is a negative side to this as well, legal ramifications; the police are being pressured by city officials and property owners to start building cases on Writers, this is something that has been avoided since the early 90's (the cops had more important matters to attend to - still do for that matter).
What is happening now is that, much like the broken windows scenario in new york, business owners and residents of wealthy neighborhoods (as well as city officials) are all pushing to have graffiti artists and writers persecuted. I even read in the New Haven Independent that there would be 50 dollar fines doled out for possession(in public spaces) of graffiti devices such as stickers, markers and spray cans, as well as fines for offenses above and beyond those ordered in court. I talked to an officer recently and he knew of no such laws but said that in the 90s they had been tracking spray paint sales and had given fines for possession of large scale paint markers.
The thing that seems so contrasting in all of this is the fact that the typography in sign making and on fliers for clubs, and for other local businesses so often borrows from graffiti; as does modern art. if you search the new haven independent articles comments there is an individual who is a writer himself that states the obvious, that if we treated graffiti as they do in Montreal then business owners and property owners would seek out true artists in the scene and beautify their buildings with aerosol art eliminating the need for scarring the surfaces with buff marks and blotchy cover ups. Recently the Old Acme Wall was covered up with a mural done by high school students with the help of some local artists. My belief though, is that if you wish to stop something so anarchic by nature then it will inevitably get worse and spiral further out of control; yet if you were to provide local writers with legal walls and murals then at least street level surfaces would remain free of tags and throw ups.
As the case may be, so far there are still very lax laws having to do with dealing with writers, yet the mayor and the chief of police are taking notice and the cops are compiling profiles . Local watch dogs are filing reports, and the media is running stories. It may only be a matter of time before it becomes a real shit show.
