By J. P. Mitril

The City of Buffalo has been tagged with graffiti for a number of years, but recently the problem has grown into an all out war between graffiti artist, and the Buffalo Police Department.

“It’s very disheartening to see the city spend money to improve public property and then see it spray painted by some kids,” said Detective Kevin F. Maloney of the Special Services Unit.

“We have noticed some tags around Buffalo have spilled over onto Buffalo State College’s campus, and in one case they were BSC students that were doing it,” said Maloney.

Understanding what the graffiti says is not all that difficult, according to Maloney.

“A lot of times the tags are written backwards and some letters are written upside down, but after seeing the same ones pop up they become better and easier to read,” said Maloney.

“I think the city is doing a good job at covering up the graffiti, I’ve seen a couple of spots where graffiti once was and now the city has painted over it,” said Anthony Sarkozy, 30, a resident of North Buffalo.

Who started graffiti tagging?

According to the author of Workout Ltd. at tagging began in the summer of 1970 when a Manhattan youth began writing his name and street number onto ice cream trucks in the neighborhood. “Taki 183” was the first graffiti artist. “Taki 183” worked as a messenger and began writing his name everywhere in 1971. A New York Times reporter tracked him down and wrote and article on him.

Kids impressed by the article began to compete for the fame of “Taki 183.” They were throwin’ up their tags frequently and in as many hard-to-reach places as possible.

As space filled up, styles were developed to make a “tag” stand out from the rest.