Grafitti is making a comeback on the New York Subway.
Some riders are calling a return to the "bad old days" of New York City—the 1970s and '80s. After decades of efforts to eradicate graffiti from the New York subway cars, an increasing number of subway cars are getting tagged again.
"The troubling trend saw New York City Transit’s annual graffiti cleaning costs surge to $610,956 in 2018 — an increase of 364% from the $131,539 spent just two years earlier," according to an article by Jose Martinez.
"Some 765 subway cars and 443 trains were affected last year by 'major graffiti hits,'" according to data from the MTA shared with Martinez.
According to Martinez, much of the graffiti is the work of international artists looking to gain social media fame.
Jose Martinez sat down with Metro Focus to discuss the findings of the article, in a video that's available online.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research