So to demonstrate his determination in the meantime, he took on what many had written off as a lost cause: subway graffiti.

The book showcased early illegal art in New York as well as hip hop based subway graffiti of the 70's.

Theft of radios and other car accessories is to the late 1980's what subway graffiti was to the 70's, only worse.

The city's long battle against subway graffiti is a reminder of this, and the ghost stations, which are almost all covered with graffiti, are another.

Feathered hairdos, leg warmers and subway graffiti are gone, mostly, but the Angels never went away.

But now officials are seeing a fresh surge of subway graffiti, in which windows are irreparably damaged with acid.

In New York, where anyone can buy a can of paint, the once-ubiqiutous subway graffiti became a visual symbol for the city as a whole.

These days, subway graffiti date a New York movie the way running boards and Tommy guns date a gangster film.

He quickly found the city's ever-present subway graffiti more interesting than art in museums or galleries.

The reduction of subway graffiti got a big boost from new technology that made it easier to clean the trains.