Alan Jacobs

Greenwich Village

Graffiti'ed subway car.

Subway cars covered with graffiti symbolize the terrible decline of New York in the 1970s, when our infrastructure fell beneath the spray cans of vandals and it seemed like there would be no recovery. Yet, the creativity that marred our subways was also an indicator of the restless and provocative creative and regenerative spirit of our city, which emerged stronger than ever from beneath the spray paint.