Yesterday morning, I received a call from my friend and now neighbor Michelle, who informed me that overnight, someone drew graffiti all over our front door. After I went downstairs with her and confirmed that indeed, our door was “graffitied” – I was furious at not only the punks who ruined our door – but at graffiti as a whole.

Originating in New York City in the late 1960s, graffiti was first used by political activists to speak their mind – and then by gangs to mark their territory. In the late 1970s, the City’s graffiti moved from the streets to the subways – and now coats anything that looks tempting to a kid with a can of spray paint. While some murals throughout this City are moving works of art – especially the ones deidcated to the victims of Spetember 11th – the name “Akom N.A.V.” on my front door is not.

As I was growing up, kids in my school and in my neighborhood would graffiti on anything they could any chance they got. I would see their knapsacks and schoolbooks covered with graffiti, I would watch them either draw their “tag” on the schooldesk with a heavy duty magic marker, or carve it in with a knife – and I would watch the storekeepers spend their time and money repainting their storefronts – only to see new graffiti appear the very next day.

Despite the fact that I live in the birthplace of graffiti and that it has been around me all my life – I never saw the appeal. What is so great about writing a nickname that no one but you and your fellow defacers would be able to understand on almost everything in the neighborhood? An even better question would be why these kids get so upset when their “rivals” “tag-up” in their “territory.” I witnessed a classic example of this idiotic behavior when I was on a bus many years ago. Three kids, who were on the same bus with me and obvious “graffiti-ers” as evident by the many “tags” that coated their every belonging were discussing a “rival’s” “tag” when one kid actually jumped up out of his seat and screamed, “Where! Where did you see him ‘up?!’ Where?!” The incident stuck with me to this day because I was amazed at the stupidity of this “child” who acted like his “rival’s” “tag” being “up” was the worst thing to ever happen in human society.

Besides being an eyesore and a pain in the ass to get rid of – graffiti is also a crime in new York City. According to § 10-117 of the Mayor’s Anti-Graffiti Law, “No person shall write, paint or draw any inscription, figure or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any other real or personal property owned, operated or maintained by a public benefit corporation, the city of New York or any agency or instrumentality thereof or by any person, firm, or corporation, or any personal property maintained on a city street or other city-owned property pursuant to a franchise, concession or revocable consent granted by the city, unless the express permission of the owner or operator of the property has been obtained.” If someone is caught graffiti-ing in New York City, they will serve jail time, pay a fine – and even be forced to spend a weekend cleaning up other people’s graffiti all over the City.

The bottom line is that graffiti is a crime, an eysore – and a rude and selfish annoyance. And as for the punks that were kind enough to write their garbage on our front door, I hope for their sakes that they do not do it again or even come near our property – because if Woody gets his hands on them…