As absurd as it may sound, years ago NYC subways trains had graffiti all over them. Not an inch of a subway car showed off that shiny stainless steel it once rolled out of the factory with.
These days, instead of being tattooed in graffiti, NYC’s subway cars are now wrapped in advertisements.
The MTA must have felt it was a better idea to get rid of the originality and creativity of graffiti and replace it with cheesy ads, just to generate some kind of revenue (in addition to overpriced travel fares).
In an effort to creatively highlight this issue, UR New York, which is made up of two artists named SKI and 2ESAE, decided to reclaim an entire NYC subway car on the J line at around 3 am.
During a recent interview with Animal New York, 2ESAE elaborated:
Advertisers have been stealing graffiti tactics for years. We’re not allowed to paint trains anymore. Who knew that years later… f*cking Target could have a full car?
