Tired of Graffiti, Council Bans Roll-Down Storefront Gates

[The Straight Story]

Tired of Graffiti, Council Bans Roll-Down Storefront Gates
Small business owners have until 2026 to comply with new regs

First there was cigarette smoke. Then there were sugary foods. And now the city council is zeroing in on a new target it deems to be a blight worthy of extinction: roll-down storefront gates.

The creaking, often graffiti-tagged gates that mark the beginning and end of the workday – the ones that open and close like a garage, protecting the merchandise inside -- may soon be gone forever.

Well, not soon, exactly. It'll be, oh, about 17 years.

The city council voted earlier this week to ban the steel curtains that guard stores' wares from potential robbers and thieves by hiding what's inside, thus giving them less incentive to break in. However, gates that allow passersby to see inside the store will still be permitted,, according to The New York Times, and owners will have until 2026 to build new gates according to the acceptable model.

The vote to ban the roll-down gates was an unanimous 45-0. The goal? To minimize surfaces where vandals may be inclined to spray graffiti and provide quicker access should fire personnel or cops need to see inside to assess emergencies, reports the Times.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Tired-of-Graffiti-Council-Bans-Roll-Down-Storefront-Gates-78416822.html

[NYC_SKP]

1. The New New York City Sucks....

I lived there from 77-87.

In those earlier years, it was gritty and I LIKED IT!

Anecdote: My first day I remember a string of bank robberies, all day long as I walked around I noticed newer editions of the Daily News and Post showing larger and larger numbers. I think it got up to Ten Bank Robberies.

Anyway, in those days the subway cars were tagged up and down, inside and out, ceiling, seats, and the outside of the cars had these great murals, often, and I bought a book of images of those.

And the subway worked JUST FINE. Now they have graffiti proof cars, I guess.

And I watched as they Disney-fied Times Square :puke: If I want Disney, I'll go to fuckin' Disneyland (which I don't and I won't).

So, now they want to ban security gates?

Like taggers and street artists won't tag and paint plain glass???

Like burglars and thieves won't start breaking these windows to get inside???

I miss New York.

It's not there any more, not really.

:cry:

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. Remember "The Equalizer"?

That show made New York City look like a hell hole of crime, robbery, corruption and filth! Great show!

[NYC_SKP]

7. Yes. Theme Song Just Popped into My Head!!!

"DO DO DO-DO-DO DOO DOO DOO DOO.."

Here ya go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g87nDBIyqeU

[Historic NY]

9. he died recently.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. Yes. RIP Edward Woodward (n/m)

[The Straight Story]

22. He died a few weeks back (nt)

[demosincebirth]

2. As if that will deter 'em.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Nope. They'll just paint on any other surface. And because it is illegal, the

art will be hit and run and sloppy.

[NYC_SKP]

3. Oh, K and R, and here's that book, and a note about Keith Haring:

The book:


I lived on Broadway at Bleeker, then on Sullivan off Bleeker, then on East Houston.
I remember seeing Keith Haring's art on doors and walls in my neighborhood in the early 80's, before he became famous.
These were just white chalk or marker outlines on black surfaces back then.

RIP, Keith Haring, AIDS Victim

http://www.haring.com/



:patriot:

[Luminous Animal]

4. We are so stupid. They should encourage graffiti on roll down doors.

It would give the artists time to create something beautiful. Barcelona does this and graffiti artists come from all over Europe to create on the roll down doors. It was so much fun walking around late at night when all the stores were closed.

http://images.google.com/images?q=barcelona+graffiti&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=3YEYS5j7OsiHnQfTm8HZAw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBAQsAQwAA

[virgogal]

8. Thanks for the link---some beautiful work there. Do the thug types

respect the work of these graffiti artists or do they deface them?

[Luminous Animal]

10. There is a lot of respect for graffiti but when a piece of art starts

to deteriorate, others will move in for "collage" graffiti. Thug culture and thug crime is low there.

[virgogal]

23. Thanks---been to Spain but never to Barcelona. That will be my

next destination. My daughter went this fall and absoluteley loved it.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

13. That's not the kind of graffiti posted on these doors.

They're nothing like Five Pointz in Queens:

[Luminous Animal]

14. I find that beautiful.

My point is, in regards to criminalizing graffiti and not providing an outlet for the artists, you end up with hit and run graffiti... in quick and out quick before the police come by. As a result, the opportunities for deliberate artistic expression declines and the skills of the artists degrades.

There is a great documentary that tracks this phenomenon.
http://www.piecebypiecemovie.com/site.htm

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Are they talking about gang graffiti?

That's completely different. Not all that artistic either.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Et8H4dBJUk4/Sd7em68xfeI/AAAAAAAACN8/JZe1dghRpqk/s400/gang+graffiti+on+fence+09.JPG

[Starbucks Anarchist]

17. Yes, that's the kind you see far more frequently here.

[JCMach1]

20. One of the worst things about Athens was the hideous stuff everywhere...

am not a fan...

[Trillo]

11. I always thought those also protected against fire, and sometimes storm

damage.

Nevertheless, there's certainly plenty of time for compliance. None of the Biz-must-comply-yesterday like most of the rest of us non-biz suckers get.

[ldf]

15. more power to them

it's interesting. these "artists" have to sneak around, in the dark, to "express themselves", because they know they are vandalizing someone else's property. and the property owners feel it is a losing battle to go out and repaint several times a week.

tagging is the equivalent of pissing on something to mark your territory. how cool is that? no, tagging is done because they know it pisses people off.

an extremely small percentage of graffiti can be considered "art". and for all those who will pile on saying who made me the arbiter of art, yes, i will make a distinction. most of it is usually nothing more than a scribble, repeated as often as they can get away with, before being seen. then they slink off into the dark like the cowards they really are.

if you think it is art, put it in a gallery. there ARE those, you know, that are for street artists. but that would defeat the purpose of offending, wouldn't it?

make defacing other's property a $1000 fine, and anyone who gets it on video and reports it, with an arrest, gets half of the fine. make it worth people's while to try keep the city habitable.

make every window facing the street, a possible income source. allow others who don't approve of it to have the possibility of making some extra income off of it, AND cleaning up the neighborhood at the same time.

the art of a city is huge numbers of different peoples, living together peacefully, with consideration for their neighbors.

and while i am on a rant...

they should also ban boom cars and loud motorcycles. it's enough to have to deal with the necessary noise of a city, like construction jackhammers and firetruck sirens that are so loud the sound is literally physical. annoying, yes, but necessary.

there are boom cars than can literally shake the foundations of buildings (THAT doesn't sound like a good thing), for a block in every direction. cool? no. but they know they are getting on everyone's nerves. THAT is the point.

there are motorcycles that are as loud as a plane taking off over your head. and the point is....? so we know you are an asshole that owns a harley? (or whatever make.. which you conveniently can't hear because you have a helmet on... and you are in FRONT of the tailpipe, not behind it, where the rest of us are...)

and car alarms that go off for hours on end, with no one doing a thing to turn them off. a $1000 fine would make them reduce the "sensitivity" of the alarm trigger. absolutely no one looks in the direction of a car when the alarm goes off anyway, they have become so irrelevant. then there are those who must allow the alarm to go through a cycle just because they are unlocking the doors. at 6:30 in the morning, right below someone's bedroom window.

and neighbors that think everyone in the entire building wants to listen to their music, at extremely high volume, for hours on end.

i love living in nyc. but the sheer inconsideration of some, for others, is hard to handle. but i am not leaving. i have found my place, and i will do my best to make it better, not worse. (i have a stereo that has four HUGE speakers, that could match anyone's boomers, but i refuse to become the neighbor that i hate. maybe one day i'll own a place big enough to enjoy it, but until then...)

and i don't think the vandals, and the inconsiderate assholes should be allowed to win.

we need a mayor who will seriously address the quality of life issues, here. they would get elected in a landslide, EVEN if they were not already a billionaire.

now, flame on...

[1]

18. yes. tagging is such fucking art. when you look at it in your coffee table books. over chai tea...

high up on your hill. with your vegan, green™ buds.

clucking away at how anyone could possibly object to this quaint form of urban expression.


until you have to clean that shit off your property on a daily basis. your coffee table books don't reflect that 99% of all tagging is nothing more than ugly fucking gang scrawls. not art.

but cluck away and laugh. until the tagging hits you...

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. You also feel a bit different about it when it promotes crime

[JCMach1]

21. Some idiots thought Mars Hill opposite the Akropolis would be a great place to tag stones

...I loved Athens, but that crap needs to go.

[sudopod]

24. O_o Whoa there. nt