The next time you drive under a bridge in Albany County, you might notice something missing. The graffiti that spells out the names of the vandals who drew it.
Because of a local law passed in August, people under the age of 18 will no longer be able to purchase tools used to commit graffiti throughout the county.
According to Albany County Legislator Carl Zeilman, R-C-I-Colonie, a sponsor of the legislation, the law is a win-win for all people in Albany County.
Zeilman said he has observed the graffiti problem in his district, especially on Railroad Avenue and surrounding areas.
`You’ll see a lot of tagging over there, and a lot of it near the Central Avenue corridor,` said Zeilman.
`Tagging,` Zeilman said, is when vandals write their names or a phrase on the exterior of a building.
`A lot of times it’s on vacant buildings, but a lot of times it’s on buildings that people use every day,` he said.
The law, which passed unanimously in the Legislature, calls on merchants who sell spray paint, broad-tipped markers and etching acid, to require customers to present identification proving to the clerk that they are 18 or older.
For some stores, implementation of the law means little for their establishments, as they already have been asking customers for identification.
JoAnn Bryant, a sales clerk at Philip’s Hardware on Central Avenue in Colonie, said that since she started working there in May, the store has been asking customers who try to purchase those products for identification.
`I know they can’t purchase [these items] if they are under 18,` she said. `We do this for the purpose of them defacing things.`
Other businesses are not as familiar with the new law, but many people said they see how it could benefit the community.
Mark Lane, manager of Kamco Supply on Railroad Avenue, said his store sells mostly building materials and is not a hardware store, but that they do sell some spray paints and marking paints.
Still, Lane said, one could use these types of tools to create graffiti.
`I don’t think [the law] is a bad idea. I’m on Railroad Avenue, and there are kids tagging all up and down,` said Lane. `You drive by after these guys freshly painted a building, spending 10 to 15 grand to paint this building, and now they’re tagged all over the place.`
Lane said if he does get notice of the law, he plans to ask customers buying those supplies for identification.
Another store manager, George Orsino, of Persico True Value in Ravena, said he has heard about the law, but he does not know the logistics of it.
Orsino has seen the severity of the graffiti problem and said he is willing to do whatever it takes to make it stop.
`When I was a kid, I wouldn’t dare do that,` Orsino said, speaking of tagging a building.
While store owners and legislators work toward the common goal of ending graffiti in the areas in which they live and do business, some tools that vandals use to cause graffiti might be too difficult to regulate ` such as Sharpies, or permanent markers and pens with non-erasable ink.
When asked whether the law would prevent minors from walking into office supply stores, such as Staples, and purchasing permanent markers, Zeilman said he does think the new law excludes these types of materials based on a measurement as defined by the term `broad-tipped marker,` which requires the tip of the marker to be wider than 1/2-inch.
Still, Zeilman is focusing on the bigger, graffiti-free picture, instead of focusing on definitions.
`People in the community want to have a sense of security,` said Zeilman, `I think with graffiti, there’s a sense that it’s an unsafe area, and we don’t want people to have that sense.“