Past issues
Feeds
The Paper in print
Twitter
Facebook
Contact
Email updates Twitter Facebook RSS Feeds
This bounty is no BS.
A Greenpoint businessman is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the capture of a graffiti artist who has tagged his buildings with the letters “B” and “S.”
“They’re all over the place,” said Broadway Stages owner Tony Argento. “This guy is getting bolder and bolder.”
Argento noticed the tags nine months ago on his warehouses on Norman Avenue, Moultire Street, Humboldt Street and Franklin Street, where television shows such as “The Good Wife” and “Blue Bloods” are filmed.
One of Argento’s tenants said he saw the painter spraying his one-liner on Franklin Street at 7:30 pm two weeks ago. The tenant, Joe Grant of Brooklyn Studios, described the artist as a “slim” 6-foot Caucasian man in his early 20s.
“I didn’t see his face because he had a hood on,” said Grant. “I just saw that incident that one day where the guy was using spray paint and then he walked away. It’s his stain, or whatever.”
Graffiti artists have been bombing Greenpoint’s buildings for decades. But the “BS” moniker, which appears in doorways, on brick walls, and other structures noticeable from street level, has proliferated quickly — and earned some respect from a fellow tagger.
“He is doing a great job of doing what graffiti artists do — destroying property,” said Greenpoint artist NohJColey. “The majority of ‘graff’ writers don’t want a show in a gallery or even money for their efforts in the public space.”
But unsolicited public art comes with a risk — jail time.
Police have arrested 75 art vandals in Greenpoint and 89 taggers in Williamsburg so far this year, which account for over one-fifth of Brooklyn’s total graffiti arrests this year.
Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson of the 94th Precinct, which covers Greenpoint and the Northside of Williamsburg, said police are looking for multiple suspects.
“It’s a whole team of people who write their initials within the ‘BS,’ ” said Hurson. “I saw it twice on the way back from a meeting today. Once you start looking for it, you notice it everywhere.”
For info about the bounty, contact Broadway Stages at (718) 349-9146.
©2011 Community Newspaper Group
By submitting this comment, you agree to the following terms:
You agree that you, and not BrooklynPaper.com or its affiliates, are fully responsible for the content that you post. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening or sexually-oriented material or any material that may violate applicable law; doing so may lead to the removal of your post and to your being permanently banned from posting to the site. You grant to BrooklynPaper.com the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part world-wide and to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.
Print this story
Digg this
Del.icio.us