The book, Vandal Squad by Joseph "Joe
Blow" Rivera will be released by Miss Rosen Editions of Powerhouse Books, coming this fall.
Some of the New York City graffiti writer's being named in Joe Rivera's book: Fat Joe, JA ONE, CAP, SANE, KEZ 5, SKUF, SI ONE, LES, MENOS
Excerpt: "We first became interested in MENOS after he went All-City. He was hitting all over the place but didn't dabble with the Subway. He was a street bomber and also did a lot of Amtrak, Metro North, and Long Island Railroad. We had a lot of connections with cops covering those trains and they were constantly calling us to ask, "Hey, you know who this guy is?" We saw that he was getting big and decided to find out who the hell he was. He was another one that was hard to find because he had no permanent residence and was out there bouncing around.
After several months we caught a break at a graffiti exhibition in lower Manhattan. I was on the roof of a three-story brownstone with binoculars. It was a beautiful night. Half of them were gathered outside, just hanging out, flipping through their photos, the usual. Then one of the guys pulled out a can of spray paint and tagged the sidewalk. When several spectators moved out of the way I could read the tag: MENOS.
I called down on the radio and gave them a description. Turned out MENOS was with FREE 5 and OVAL and a couple of other guys from the KGK crew. Then MENOS started walking towards FREE 5's van like he was going to leave, so I ran down the stairs in case my guys on the street didn't grab him. As I was coming down, I radioed to them, "There's a guy videotaping the whole thing. Get the tape! Get the guy with the camcorder. We want to talk to him." When I got down, MENOS was cuffed but the van and the guy with the camcorder were gone. But they did grab OVAL for slapping stickers on a mailbox down the block as he walked away from the party."
Some of the New York City graffiti writer's being named in Joe Rivera's book: Fat Joe, JA ONE, CAP, SANE, KEZ 5, SKUF, SI ONE, LES, MENOS
Excerpt: "We first became interested in MENOS after he went All-City. He was hitting all over the place but didn't dabble with the Subway. He was a street bomber and also did a lot of Amtrak, Metro North, and Long Island Railroad. We had a lot of connections with cops covering those trains and they were constantly calling us to ask, "Hey, you know who this guy is?" We saw that he was getting big and decided to find out who the hell he was. He was another one that was hard to find because he had no permanent residence and was out there bouncing around.
After several months we caught a break at a graffiti exhibition in lower Manhattan. I was on the roof of a three-story brownstone with binoculars. It was a beautiful night. Half of them were gathered outside, just hanging out, flipping through their photos, the usual. Then one of the guys pulled out a can of spray paint and tagged the sidewalk. When several spectators moved out of the way I could read the tag: MENOS.
I called down on the radio and gave them a description. Turned out MENOS was with FREE 5 and OVAL and a couple of other guys from the KGK crew. Then MENOS started walking towards FREE 5's van like he was going to leave, so I ran down the stairs in case my guys on the street didn't grab him. As I was coming down, I radioed to them, "There's a guy videotaping the whole thing. Get the tape! Get the guy with the camcorder. We want to talk to him." When I got down, MENOS was cuffed but the van and the guy with the camcorder were gone. But they did grab OVAL for slapping stickers on a mailbox down the block as he walked away from the party."
