Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
The Ol' "Throwing Paint Cans at Cops is Art" Excuse
By
Jen Chung
Published May 10, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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 Chung
Published May 10, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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
Gothamist loves art. But we also love public safety. So when we hear that one of the dopey kids who visited New York City and hurled paint cans from the roof of their 17 floor hotel - and hurled them at a police precinct, no less - has a lawyer who says they were just being artists, because they are art students on an art class field trip to visit art museums and art stuff in arty New York, well, Gothamist just wants to throw up. Because if a bunch of New York artists threw paint can missles at their Virginia hometown police station, we doubt the art defense would fly. The Post says Tyler Moore's lawyer, William Alford, explains, "I think that it had something to do with the fact that they're artists. It was an expression of what they deemed to be art...It was an art-class trip. He's an art student... They didn't really mean any harm, even though it was a very foolish thing to do." The Manhattan DA's complaint says that a can hit a patrol car on East 51st Street and then paint splashed into a window, injuring an officer inside. According to the police, Moore and his cohorts, Sean McGhee and Brittany Goldberg, seemed to have been drinking, though their teachers do not believe that. The students' school board will meet to decide whether to expel them.
Tagged
art
city
drinking
gothamist
jen chung
kids
love
manhattan
manhattan da
museums
new york
new york city
News: NYC
police
safety
school board
The Manhattan
The Manhattan DA
The Police
the post
virginia
Jen Chung
Jen Chung 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 news
Hochul names NY AG James as special prosecutor on alleged rape case at Cornell University
The governor said she does not have faith that the police and the Tompkins County DA effectively investigated the case.
By
Jon Campbell
Published Oct 1, 2026 at 9:04 p.m. ET
Founder of NYC LGBTQ therapy practice charged with rape after alleged sexual assaults
Joseph LoGiudice is the second therapist at Liberation Psychotherapy to be accused of sexually abusing a patient.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
Founder of NYC LGBTQ therapy practice charged with rape after alleged sexual assaults
Joseph LoGiudice is the second therapist at Liberation Psychotherapy to be accused of sexually abusing a patient.
By
Giulia Heyward
US judge in NY indefinitely blocks ICE from making arrests at immigration courthouses
By
Arya Sundaram
Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
By
David Brand
Push to strengthen NY sexual assault laws gathers steam after Cornell rape allegations
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Jon Campbell
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 .