MikeFSmith

Hey, no one knows for sure that Ernest Doty put those up. If he did, he could talk about them himself.

I really enjoyed this interview, but I thought the piece kind of buried the lede though, as it mentions only briefly in its introduction that one of the city's most innovative studio artists, Ernest Doty, has been arrested (and is being held in custody!) as a suspect. That guy should be given the key to the city, not a cell without a key.

There's also that quote from Chief Public Safety Officer Darren White, who says, "The only person who thinks it's great is the person who did it. We don't."

...Which displays such a narrow view of what local culture is that it astounds me. You don't speak for me, Darren White! Is culture only what can be commodified and registered with the local chamber of commerce? Is it only what looks good in promotional dining guides?

Or is true culture what truly comes from the people, that which sprouts up like rainbow-colored tendrils from the farthest reaches of the world of the city, that grows best under moonlight, and that leaves the places it found more interesting, more alive, and more of a someplace that's for everyone?

Is New York City's culture just a collection of businesses that one can enjoy one's self at while spending money? Is San Francisco's? Is Albuquerque's? Such a mindset is reductive and austere and untrue at best, and all efforts to make it true only help make our cities more boring.

Free Ernest Doty! Innocent or guilty-as-charged, let's keep art on the streets.