Wait, does that mean I can see some Banksy?

Most people know very little about graffiti – what it means, how it’s created, who makes it. And in New York, it can be hard to find anything worth taking a 2nd glance at if you don’t know where to look.

Gabe Schoenberg (Gallatin ’11) [disclosure: he is a personal friend] wants to change that. After discovering that New York City didn’t have anyone offering a tour of notable graffiti, he decided to fill that void. Later this month, he will guide his 1st graffiti and street art tour.

But what does a white guy from Jersey know about graffiti?

“When I started, I knew almost nothing about it,” Schoenberg told me. “To research, I started at the New York Public Library and took out a couple of books on just the general history. Then one day…I noticed my route was filled with graffiti. I started walking into buildings which had the graffiti on them and most of the store owners told me exactly who did it and why.”

He’s since spoken to a former tagger and artist as well as Ike Ilkiw, an MTA graffiti clean up worker who, according to Schoenberg, “loves graffiti art but not on subway cars.” Ilkiw, who spent years arresting taggers as an NYPD detective, will be joining Schoenberg on the tour.

An experienced NYC tour guide, Schoenberg has long been intrigued by street art. “The reason I love graffiti is because of its social protest aspect…It is amazing to see art used in such a political fashion in such a public arena,” he explained.

The inaugural graffiti tour will take place Sunday, March 21st at 1 PM. You can read more here and sign up by sending Schoenberg an email at gts235 (at) nyu (dot) edu.

You can mention NYU Local to get a ticket for $9 (25% off). That’s right – we’re firing up that discount game. Now if we can just get cheaper metrocards…

Photo via Flickr user wallyg (CC). I used to walk past that paste-up somewhere in SoHo. It’s probably gone now.