NY College Offers Graffiti Class

Maybe it's a cultural thing and I'm not hip to the art side of graffiti, but as someone who grew up in New York during the 1970s, when seemingly every subway car was covered in it, I find this to be incredibly stupid.

Not only is this a bad idea, but the class is being taught by a criminal at taxpayer expense.

Graffiti 101 is being offered at a city college and taught by a tagging legend who's been arrested 17 times including three times for painting graffiti.

The 19-week seminar, called "Graffiti: the Art of Hip Hop," is being offered at Hostos Community College in The Bronx, part of the City University of New York. The online catalogue claims the students will get "hands-on experience."

The instructor is graffiti writer James Cade, an East New York, Brooklyn, native and street legend who started a notorious graffiti group called The Odd Partners crew out of the Pink Houses in 1974, "bombing" the subway system for more than a decade. He still goes by the name James TOP.

The $25, noncredit, continuing-education class at the school's arts and culture center has infuriated critics like City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who called it "irresponsible."

"This is a public college hosting a seminar on how to destroy public property," he said. "What's next, they're going to bring a burglar in to teach the best ways to break into homes, with a field trip to an apartment building?"

All "hands-on experience" will take place in the art gallery, Cade said, and students on field trips will view only commissioned "murals" to "show kids in urban communities how they can use graffiti art to beautify their areas."

"I was a vandal," said Cade, who once used the tag Jee2 and gets a small salary for the class. "I admit it. That's how, in a neighborhood with no art programs, I gained self-esteem and learned art.

Oh, it's all about self-esteem, so I guess we shouldn't question this nonsense.