The outside north wall of the Albany Skatepark looked like this on Thursday, June 29, 2023.
Painting a whimsical mural on a wall in Albany evidently does not protect it from the spray paint brigade, those knuckleheads who leave their ugly scrawls wherever they can.
Two years ago, in June 2021, I came across the mural of a mountainous coastline that Albany folk artist Nate Vanek had painted on the outside wall on the north side of the Albany Skatepark.
At the time, people at the nearby store of Albany Habitat for Humanity said that since the painting had been done earlier that spring, graffiti vandals had left the wall alone.
The mural had a couple of additions by the original artist when I saw it again last December but was otherwise pretty much unmarked.
Well, not any more, as you can see.
Short of banning spray paint, is there anything — anything at all — that can discourage or even dissuade these perpetrators?
And no, putting up signs about video monitoring doesn’t do it, as you can see below. (hh)
“All activities monitored by video camera,” said the sign on the Periwinkle Bikepath behind Lowe’s on June 16, 2023.
It’s a free-for-all. Laws are NOT enforced in Kinder Park or on the Periwinkle Bike Path. You can scream your lungs out all night long and the cops will just say hello. Everyone who lives there knows full well that even if the cops show up at all, you just wait until you see their headlights and walk away. End of story, see you tomorrow.
To answer your opening question, yes… Foster better parenting. I know, I’m a dreamer. When I was a kid, back in the 1950s & 60s, defacing public or private property was considered taboo. We were taught to respect other’s property. My wife and I have had many conversations over today’s societal ills. In almost every conversation, our conclusion is that bad behavior is the result of poor parenting/guidance.
Not aware of any greater, more effective enforcement than fatherhood enforcement.
This is a public ‘problem’ that lies at the confluence of disorder and lack of enforcement.
So put the question to the small group of “non-affiliated” (Ha!) politicians who love to tell people how to behave – the Albany City Council.
But don’t be surprised when they scratch this itch by imposing a “graffitit” tax/fee on your water bill. To them, anything can be fixed with enough Benjamins.
And you don’t help matters with personal insults like “knuckleheads.” You, of all people, should know better given how you “kill” disrespectful comments on your blog.
Even if caught, the “punishment” doled out isn’t much of a deterrent.
Thank you Lyndon Johnson for the “Great Society” you created, kicking the male father figures out of the house.
The idea of creating a tax for graffiti prevention is stupid, same with thinking parents could stop kids from doing this, with whatever means. Life is not that easy.
Best approach is make sure ‘graffiti’ is uncool and only non-cool kids is doing that silliness.
Just an observation, a can of spay paint costs nearly 10 dollars these days. Who finances this behavior. Something I think about when I’m stopped at train crossing watch the graffitied cars pass by.
I thought “knucklehead” is a term of endearment to someone who has done something rude or disrespectful and making poor judgement concerning their decisions. The article is correctly assessing that these negative actions are done by people who should think before they act. Bad behavior should not be rewarded with positive attention. I think it was generous to give them a gentle reminder that these acts are not the brightest thing to do. Extreme political correctness is wasted on extreme disrespectfulness. We need to call it like we see it.