Saturday, March 19, 2011

Graffiti vandal facing hard time

From NBC:

A Queens man has been charged with criminal mischief for spray painting his tag more than 45 times on public and private property including traffic signs, light poles, bus shelters and a police van, the Queens district attorney's office said Wednesday.

Matthew Young, 23, of Ridgewood was charged in a 93-count indictment that accuses him of causing thousands of dollars worth of property damage around Queens.

Prosecutors say on 45 separate occasions he sprayed his tag "SA," "SA ONE" or "RIC ZIC" across Glendale, Richmond Hill and Forest Hills.

Young used spray paint to write his tags in all instances except for two bus shelters in which he allegedly used acid to burn his tag, the DA said.

Young faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Before anybody gets too giddy and vengeful, consider:

$55,670 (cost/yr) X 7 = $389690 Plus court and public defender cost, add at least another $20K.

So we have now spent $409,690 to put some stupid punk away and harden him as a criminal.

We all know it will be a lesser sentence but how about making him work (minimum wage) for some period of years cleaning up after what he and his fellow "artists" have done.
FAR cheaper and we, the taxpaying public actually get a return.

Erik Baard said...

We should reserve incarceration for violent offenders. He should be compelled to clean up his damages directly and financially in as uncool a way as possible.

Anonymous said...

You do the crime,you do the time.Shoplifting is seen as a minor crime...........but it costs us in the 100 MILLIONS yearly.Instead of offering leniency/probation,give offenders time;then see if they repeat.

"jade-ruh 2" said...

My man...
if I'm gonna do graffiti...I'd put up some messages that expose the Queens political clubhouse's corrupt doings...like,

"Is Stavisky skimming money off the North Flushing Senior Center"?

Anonymous said...

Maspeth Mom says...

If he goes away for 7 years and its costs $409K how long do you think it would take for him to work to pay back all the damage he has done -(A miniumu wasge earner at 40 hour work week makes about $17K GROSS) At 30K a year it would be 14 years - how much do think it would cost in administrative fees and repeat court costs to watch over this for 10 years, more that $409K, I am sure. At least in prison we will know where he is and he wont be doing any more damage. But before he goes to prison- I would give him the chance to redeem himself, start to clean up the damage and pay back the costs- if he was successfull at that and showed he was committed, then he should be shown mercy, but until then.....

Philoctetes said...

He won't pull this ever again. GOOD!!

Anonymous said...

I think a public shaming would help. Put him in a stockade and spray paint his face!

Moby and Evan said...

"Is Stavisky skimming money off the North Flushing Senior Center"?

Y E S

Did we say that out loud?

Moby said...

PS I needed at least $400K to clean up the graffiti Evan sprayed all over the outside of the senior center. His bad.

With apologies to the Rolling Stones---

He's like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
He comes in colors

Anonymous said...

Seven years sounds good. Let's make sure he doesn't stay a neighborhood graffiti punk, but learns to be a hardened criminal. He will be such a better addition to society after 7 years of incarceration.
A civil penalty would be much more effective.

Anonymous said...

Please stick to the story and don't pick on Evan. He's very confused. He can't figure out if he lives upstate with his wife, in Mahattan near his job as a Darkside lobbyist, or in Queens to hold his position as District Leader? Such a quandry.

http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/2011/02/07
/staviskys-house-vs-staviskys-apartment/

Anonymous said...

He can learn coloring in prison - I'll support to pay for him to be in jail!

Think of all the damage he cant do for 7 years!!!!!

Anonymous said...

23 and still doing graffiti? Nice life.

Anonymous said...

"Think of all the damage he cant do for 7 years!!!!!"
That's very short sighted. Think of all the damage he will be able to do after 7 years locked up with violent criminals.

Van Dell said...

Think of all the damage he will be able to do after 7 years locked up with violent criminals.
_____________________________________________________
I got me a black magic marker and I'm not afraid to use it!!!

Anonymous said...

At twenty-three, isn't he a bit old for this? Maybe he should get a life.

Anonymous said...

I know of people who are still writing graffiti in their late 30's. Pathetic? Sure. But there is a thrill to writing graffiti, similar to that of shoplifting. Some people lead fairly normal lives, and occasionally go out bombing for the thrill of it. That doesn't make it right, it's just the way it is.
The really sad part is that people at 23 are still just big kids nowadays. This is not your parents generation where the kids moved out at 18 or 19. Today's kids are living at home till late 20's or early 30's and do not have the work ethic of earlier generations.

Anonymous said...

I'd say that's very untrue of kids not having the work ethic of their parents, etc. I generally work significantly harder than the generation ahead of me, and everyone else I know my age is in the same boat - we're working our asses off yet can barely afford to save for the future, nevermind, buying a house, having kids... Used to be you could work 40 hours with no college and still live well. Your spouse could stay home and raise the kids because one job was enough to get by. Those days are long, long gone.

On topic: Make this guy clean up graffiti at his own expense for a few years. Don't waste my *&(*&^%** tax money sending him to jail where he'll have zero prospect of getting a job when he gets out. Walmart isn't even hiring ex-crooks anymore.

Anony2 said...

Whatever happened to community service? When I was in Bayside High in the 90s, this 20 something we all knew was picking up litter in the park as part of his community service. Kid was so embarrassed that everyone was watching him clean the park, he never tagged again. Effective and productive!

Unanimous said...

He has not been convited yet, according to the article. They are just conveying what the penalty might be. He has not killed or hurt anyone. IMHO, I think a short time in jail, a fine and lengthy public service would be make sense.

Anonymous said...

notice that graffiti thugs only get arrested in white neighborhoods. once you see graffiti you know the neighborhood is owned by the black Dominican and Caribbean gangs and drug dealers.

Anonymous said...

I hope some big prison dude tags his sorry ass just like how he graffiti public properties.... "Big Budda was here", "For a good time, insert here"

Anonymous said...

Lmao... Graffiti thugs. This dude SA is still bombin, catchin wreck in Queens. Lol. Graffiti is a creative addiction. I'm 32, have a 7 yr old daughter and family, a well paying job and still go bombing. It's a hobby. Some people play baseball, basketball. Fukin Pokemon. We go bombing in the streets. Graffiti will always be around. My postman came out of retirement and is bombing again. He's 50 years old. Graffiti writers come from backgrounds. Racially and economically. Lol. Graffiti thugs. U guys kill me with that.