Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
NYPD Would Really Love Someone To File A Complaint Against Banksy
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 21, 2013
Modified Oct 21, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 21, 2013
Modified Oct 21, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Cops on the scene in the South Bronx today (Photo by Robert Dunning/Gothamist)
This morning Banksy posted a photo of his new piece (the 21st from his Better In Than Out residency) in the South Bronx. Since day one, his pieces have been subject to almost immediate defacement, eventually leading building owners to go to drastic measures to preserve the pieces before they get tagged or buffed. Most notably, in Williamsburg Cara Tabachnick has set up a 24/7 guard and a metal rolling gate over the piece that went up on her building. But it's not just vandals that these surprise art owners are worried about, it's the city.
Recently the city buffed Banksy's Twin Towers tribute in Brooklyn Heights, following the NY Post's front cover plea: "GET BANKSY!" And it seems they want to do more than erase the pieces—today the owner of the South Bronx building, David Damaghi, told us an NYPD detective called him out of the blue this afternoon, asking if he wanted to press charges. He says officers warned him about the possibility of more "people coming and do more graffiti on my wall." One assumes the NYPD investigates this quickly every time someone tags a wall in the Bronx, right?
Over the weekend we spoke with retired NYPD officer Steve Mona, who worked with the NYPD Vandal Squad for 18 years before he retired in 2006. He explained that unless a building owner "files a complaint, then there hasn’t been a crime committed. Because graffiti is an art form, what makes it a crime is whether the person had permission to do it to the property that they did it to. So if I walk up to your house and break your window because you said to me, ‘Hey Steve, break my window,’ I can’t be arrested for criminal mischief because you gave me permission to break your window, it’s the same with graffiti it’s no different."
Damaghi adds, "They told me somebody has done graffiti on my building. They said it'd been done by a famous artist... I wasn't even aware of who this person was." He says the detective asked, "Do you want to press charges?" But Damaghi—who was in Brooklyn when the officer called him from the Banksy location—told him that "no," he did not want to press charges. Asked if he likes the piece, Damaghi says, "It looks okay, looks fine. I think [I'll keep it]." He is currently considering both plexiglass and a gate to protect the piece.
Tagged
banksy
david Damaghi
South Bronx
vandal squad
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Sep 26, 2026
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.
By
Hannah Frishberg
How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest
By
Sonia Rao
NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .