"John Lindsay hated graffiti. He vowed to wipe it off the face of the IRT, and allocated $10 million to its obliteration. But the application of vast resources is no match for disciplined determination, as we should have learned in Vietnam. Graffiti survived Lindsay’s defoliation plan, and it has thrived on every subsequent attempt to curb its spread. In 1973, there may have been a few hundred ghetto kids writing in a few definable styles. Now thousands call themselves 'writers.' They come from every social stratum and range in age from nine to 25. Their signatures — called 'tags' — have transformed the subway into what the Times calls 'some godawful forest.' And now that the perpetrators have moved above ground, trucks and elevators, monuments and vacant walls look as if they have suddenly sprouted vines. It is, says Claes Oldenburg, 'a big bouquet from Latin America.' It is, says Richard Ravitch of the MTA, 'a symbol that we have lost control.' ..."
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