Man Made Lake

Nothing Is Forever

Bushwick | Sunset Park | Belmont | Borough Park | East Harlem

     Unlike their more respectful Brazilian counterparts, American taggers are a highly competitive and confrontational bunch.  Big beautiful pieces often last only a few hours before some kid scribbles his name over it, hoping to milk some of the attention that the original work earned.  I have, however, noticed a strong exception when it comes to memorials.  Here you can actually see the paint start to chip.  One explanation could be the presence of a profound respect for the dead and their families.  Or perhaps taggers are afraid of being hunted down by the deceased's comrades.  Regardless, these things always creep me out.  People die everywhere, all the time, for an array of reasons.  But when walking through a rough patch it's a little unsettling to see shrine after shrine to dead who just happen to always be young Latino or African-American men.

IRT Pelham Line

(also known in the Bronx as the 6 train)

Around Town 2

West 26th Street, Chelsea
Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint
36th Street, Astoria
Grand Concourse, Fordham

IRT White Plains Road Line

In the late 70s, when subway graffiti was at its peak, the 2 & 5 line was widely considered the most prestigious canvas in the system, in part because it showcased writers from some of the toughest neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn. By the early 90s the subways were essentially clean, and since then most traditional tagging with spray paint has been reduced to commissioned works on warehouses and delivery trucks.

I don't deny that the majority of graffiti was and is tasteless scribbling, and period shots of subway car interiors completely covered in felt tip markings make me gag. But I do get the impression that watching elevated trains was a much more exciting endeavor thirty years ago.

There's some amazing work documented in Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant's classic 1984 book Subway Art. To get an idea of what you missed, check out a digitized copy here.

Elevated

    New York already had an extensive elevated train network when the first subway line was built in 1904. The move to subways has consistently been seen as an improvement, and the concerns are valid: noise and light. But nobody ever took the aesthetics of riding these trains into account. Every time I look out the windows at dark tunnel walls I wonder what it would be like if I were 100 feet higher, looking down on 53rd Street or Trinity Place.

    If you're skeptical, watch this short film about the 3rd Avenue El, made just a few years before it was dismantled in 1955.

Approximately 40% of the present "subway" system is elevated, mostly deep in the outer boroughs.