Mysterious Graffiti Is Ugly

Aug 4, 2008 3:46 PM

graffitiGraffiti: that cherished urban art form, juvenile delinquent time-killer and means of political and social protest, is one that generally goes unnoticed by the masses. Whether it be on the walls of an abandoned building or a dilapidated subway station, most people find it easy to simply ignore the the colorful bubble letters and illegible black chicken scratch scrawled all over our city. And so did I...until now.

After spotting the phrase "Neck face is ugly" throughout Soho and the Lower East Side, I've been wondering what in the world this could possibly mean. Here are some of my hypotheses:

1. There's a person named Neck Face who is ugly.

2. Maybe the graffiti artist thinks that people who have flabby/wrinkly faces that look like old peoples' necks are ugly.

Well, that's really all that I've come up with. I've never come across graffiti that has pestered me as much as this, so please, if you know what it means, let us know in comments!

Filed under: Lower East Side, Soho
To contact the author of this post, email guestofaguest@gmail.com

nottelling

August 4, 2008

7:21pm

You are an idiot. [www.newimageartgallery.com]  

Neckface

August 4, 2008

7:58pm

tony andrews

August 4, 2008

8:10pm

It looks too ugly to be graffiti to me.  

anonymous

August 4, 2008

8:27pm

you morons. neck face is a famous graf artist. go back to nebraska or at least google something before you write about it.  

Yiech

August 4, 2008

9:38pm

Neck face has been around for ages and even has a wikipedia entry [en.wikipedia.org]  

irresponsible

August 5, 2008

12:36am

nice job changing your post to try and not sound like a total idiot. how do you have a blog about new york and you dont know a thing about the city.  

anonymous

August 5, 2008

10:56am

Whoa people! She only wanted information about something she saw and didn't understand. When a person doesn't ask questions, then he is an idiot.  

STANLEY STUYVESANT

August 5, 2008

1:12pm

Its amazing how being ignorant of a graffiti artist is grounds for such vitriol, or evidence that someone doesn't know "a thing about the city." I suppose what amazes me most, however, is that there are those who are so arrogant as to narrowly define what it means to "know the city", and then get up on some sort of pedestal and call others morons. I'm sure everyone in the city has various gaps in the their knowledge about different facets of the city life and culture (or said Graffiti artists). But most of us don't equate our own knowledge to being a litmus test for being well-informed or jump up on some sort of highground. The arrogance of some is astouding.  

irresponsible

August 5, 2008

2:00pm

you changed the post. this is not what it originally said. she was not asking about neck face before only commenting on it as bad graf. you changed your original content to make it seem like you were asking your readers. just admit your wrong and run a correction like every other publication does. your journalistic integrity is in serious question. you're dishonest and you just got caught red handed.  

GUESTOFAGUEST

August 5, 2008

2:16pm

what are you talking about? we never once changed this post....  

anonymous

August 5, 2008

2:31pm

TO IRRESPONSIBLE- You certainly are! The post was never changed. Perhaps you didn't click on to read "more."  

irresponsible

August 5, 2008

3:28pm

yes you did change it. dont fucking lie to your readers. this site is crap and everyone that reads it says the same thing. take a good hard look at what your content is compared to your peers.  

August 5, 2008

4:43pm

Neck Face is a Graf legend Ding Dong  

Stanley's Defence Is Endearing Yet Ironic and Hypocritical

August 5, 2008

5:27pm

The biggest lie is that there's no such thing as a stupid question…and a sure fire way to ask a stupid question is not doing some preliminary research before asking a question. In this day an age, preliminary research simply involves Googling the subject of your query. Sure, there are gaps in everyone's knowledge about the city, but trying to plug those gaps by posting a question, in an authorial capacity, on a NYC-centric blog, while making some trite, dull-witted, borderline ageist observations about a phenomenon that's nearly half a decade old, when one could just as easily find out the answer to the question by typing a couple of words into Google, undoubtedly justifies the vitriol, Stanley. You misperceive the vitriol as the outgrowth of arrogance when it's in fact a frustrated response to willful ignorance. I enjoyed your attempt to spring to your colleague's defense…it's nice to see that you out-of-towners stick together, but all the same I find it entirely ironic that the best you could do is deride the "arrogance" of those who claim to know a thing or two about this city because they're familiar with a renown street artist whose work is displayed throughout the most public and accessible of civic canvases, when what you do is blog in a manner heralds membership in or, at very least, familiarity with, the so called "junior set"—that mindlessly entitled substrata of this city—as the sine qua non of being New Yorker who's in the know. Surely, Stanley, your true values are a just a tad more arrogant and elitist than any of the posters who have spotlighted the author's willful ignorance.  

caught

August 6, 2008

12:08am

well said my friend. instead of admitted an error you attack your readers are were right in calling you and your blogger out. i remember a while back you made a stupid comment about bill belichick's sweatshirt's sleeves and how you thought htey looked stupid and that he had no style. you moron - he wears the same fucking hoodie with the sleeves cut off in every game he coaches. a simple google image search would show you that.  

STANLEY STUYVESANT

August 6, 2008

2:46am

This is funny. First you call someone an idiot for being ignorant of something, equating ignorance to "knowing nothing about New York." When that doesn't work you call them an idiot for not doing their "proper" research. I suppose you are the self-appointed determinant of that? Guestofaguest is what it is. Take it or leave it, be our guest or don't be. But please don't get all "frustrated" or worked up about it. Though flattering, I suggest you put your energy elsewhere. @caught - 1) What "error" should we admit to? Asking a question? Oh right, there's another error! 2) Why does the fact that Bill Belichick wears sleeveless sweatshirts at every game and practice mean I can't voice my opinion on how they look? Sorry, am I missing something here? Oh right, another strawman argument from yours truly.  

caught

August 6, 2008

3:13pm

stanley you are a lousy blogger with crap content. you changed the post. it wasn't asking your readers at first about neckface. people in the media do not like your site.  

Andy

August 26, 2008

3:53pm

why would anyone expect made-up moniker Stanley Stuyvesant, actually an overworked blogger with infinite identities, to actually do research of any kind? Its about creating content not fact-checking. Ha! This is business, kid. Plus, if you're such a cool, real-deal New Yorker, why are you reading douchey hamptons socialite bullshit news? I do agree though... You really never heard of neckface? Have you heard of Banksy? Thats the only graf artist I can think of thats more famous these days. Anyways, we've started a well informed "real New Yorker" blog based out of Queens. Check it out. heres a link: www.nyknifeandfork.com"] rel="nofollow">New York Knife & Fork  

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