the good ol' days.

Let's talk a little bit about 1988.

Ronald Reagan was (sadly) in office as president. Ladies (including my mom) were in a tizzy over one-time-wonder RIck Astley's smash hit "Never Gonna Give You Up." Bad-ass kids were rocking out to Guns N Roses. But most importantly, it marked the end of an era in which graffiti ruled the subway stations, platforms, and cars in a way that has, quite tragically, been unrivaled to this day.

Check out the awesome website that inspired this post: http://www.subwayoutlaws.com

I was 5, and I recall being a wide-eyed kindergartener en route to P.S. 88 every weekday morning, waiting with my mom for the M train at Knickerbocker Avenue. It was the onset of my career as an NYC subway commuter. At the time, I believe that measures to clean up the graffiti "problem" had already started being taken, and harsh laws calling for jail time were soon to be imposed. But, lucky for me, there were still a bunch of trains on the JMZ line that showcased gorgeous works of art from some of the city's best graffiti artists. I remember being amazed by all the candy-colored designs that consumed entire train cars, and asking my mom if it was REALLY possible that these were created with a spray can of paint. I always imagined acrobatic artists, putting these pieces together while clinging to the top or the side of a train car in motion—I was too young (maybe too stupid?) to realize that trains, like cars!, parked in the evening.

Anyhow, there was always this air of mystique that surrounded these puffy, whimsical, three-dimensional tags and designs—in addition to them being just plain pretty to look at. Unfortunately, I missed the heyday of graffitied interiors, but I feel like this art would have really made riding the train a more inspiring, thought-provoking experience had it never been outlawed. Call me crazy! I love graffiti when it's done well and it's not just a tag scribbled over someone else's lame tag in black Sharpie. I appreciate good art in all forms, unless it's like, being used to deface someone's house or something. But the subway? Come on, guys! This is NYC, creativity capital of the world. Our tax dollars could have gone to such better use than making spray-paint-proof train cars a standard across the board. Who knows—maybe our fares would have still been lingering at a sweet $1.25!

I think that someone really needs to bring this art back to the NYC subway—whether it's something that can be done in a more organized manner, or whatever. In addition to promoting our community of artists, it just makes life as a commuter a little more interesting. Who wants to stare at a boring grey train for the next 30 years until they retire?