Art Or Vandalism?
Is it art, vandalism or a political statement?
Perhaps it is all three–at least in the above photo.
The parking meter photographed above, was captured by a keen-eyed reader named Eric, on Wilson Ave.
Reports of vandalized parking meters, centered around the Uptown area, came in over the weekend from several readers.
In the 4900 block of north Broadway, a line of 10 meters, their heads covered in metallic gold spray paint, so their readouts were obscured, were spotted on Sunday, assumed to have been “decorated” by the same “artist” that struck on Wilson Ave.
Other meters, some with their coin slots jammed with thick, gooey substances, were spotted in the same general area of the city.
Anger and frustration over the parking meter lease deal and quadrupled meter rates, still seems to be high, if these reports of vandalism are any indication.
However, vandalizing parking meters, which are considered city property, can land you in court, and ultimately in jail if convicted.
It’s against the law to damage parking meters, and is also punishable by a fine of $250 and potentially will cost the convicted vandal the cost to repair the meter, according to Dept. of Revenue spokesman Ed Walsh.
Walsh says the city is not shy about prosecuting persons who damage parking meters. “It is considered to be serious, when it is out and out vandalism,” says Walsh
However, in short order, traditional single head meter vandalism will disappear, as Chicago Parking Meters, LLC plans on replacing 30,000 of these old school meters with 3000 Pay & Display pay boxes by year’s end.
Thanks to tips and photos from Eric, Dawn & Jeff.
These meters look much better. good job to whoever did this . You have done your part to beutify Chicago
Rose are Red.
Violets are Blue.
My meter’s not working.
It’s all stuffed with glue.
A ticket was issued.
I know not the “why?”.
The Agent was careless,
perhaps glue in her eye?
To court I now shamble,
said ticket in hand.
“The Meter was broken!”
I rant on the stand.
The Judge looks on kindly.
The ticket’s dismissed.
It all took two hours,
but damm I’m still pissed.
The message is simple,
even if you’re a twit.
If you’ve broken a meter,
and a ticket’s still writ,
your feeding the system
you stupid ass shit!
Can’t help but think that if the vandal who wiped these out put his scorn to better use, several square blocks of the new Pay and Pray machines could be put out of order in an equally elegant fashion.
my vote goes for “art”, obvs. =)
Who is this ‘Art’ guy and how does he get his name on all those museums?
Can’t wait till you all get caught, destroying City Property, And then you will cry and ask for the help of the company to be easy on you.
Guys grow up and take responsiblity, if you own a car its 2 fucking dollars, you spend that on a bottle of soda and its gone in less than 10 minutes.
if you can’t afford it sell your car and take public transportaion, it was created for morons like you anyways.
I hope you are caught and fully prosucated.
I received a ticket from a meter that someone vandalized and of course had to go to court to fight the ticket. I told the Judge I have no issue paying for parking, I would have paid if the machine was in working order.(not due to the company of course, but a radical citizen of chicago) Thanks to the vandal that caused me to take off work and lose a days pay even though the ticket was thrown out, it’s totally unacceptable for someone that is honest to have to go through that kind of ordeal, due to someone that wants to make a stupid statement.
THANKS A BUNCH YOU MORAN
AGIAN I HOPE YOU ARE CAUGHT AND YOU ARE THROWN IN A JAILCELL AND YOU HAVE TO PAY RESTITION TO THE CITY OF CHICAGO AND MORGAN STANLEY.
I WILL SEE YOU IN COURT…
I’ve gotten ticketed at broken meters twice (both in one week!) and was pleased to find that the city had helped me to contest the tickets by taking a picture of the meters which clearly showed that they were jammed with cement or glue or something. The link to the pictures was listed on the ticket. I was grateful since I didn’t have a camera on me to take the pictures myself. I’m not sure if this is standard procedure these days or not, but it might save people (like the concerned tax payer above) the hassle of having to contest in person.
Art.
Thanks for the giggles Peter Parker.
Concerned Tax Payer: You do know the el costs $2.25 — each way — right? And you mean to tell me you never received a bogus ticket prior to this year that required you to take off work like the rest of us honest car-owning citizens? What luck you must have.
Cindy: Wait…what? The link showed a picture of a broken meter, but they still wrote the ticket? Could they not see what the pictures showed?
SS: yep, in both cases it was clear in the picture that the coin slot was covered with some kind of cement or gray putty, but somehow, the meter maid missed it. The tickets weren’t even in the same neighborhoods. When I called to report the broken meter, the person on the phone said that they’d been hearing a lot about meters being jammed with cement. All I can think is that the meter maid just didn’t look very close when taking the picture. Now I carry some of the broken meter signs from this site in my car so I can tape it on a broken meter should I come across one. Hopefully that will help prevent the hassle in the first place.
Pay & Display pay boxes would look good painted matte black. I’m just sayin’…
Concerned Tax Payer –
What is a ‘moran’? *giggle*
Oh wait… I think I know…
No, out of my 10 years living in chiacgo, that is the first parking meter ticket I have ever received. I pay for parking in my neighbor due to the fact that I would not have to deal with parking tickets. And when I did receive the parking ticket( and went through all the crazy bullshit), I went with a little gadget called ParkMagic and love that device. The great thing about the park magic is, even when I pull up at a meter that is broken I can call the amount in and it is applied to my small transponder. Yes, I pay even if the meter is broken.
Concerned tax payer, I don’t believe vandalism is the answer, but it is about time take a stand and ask some questions….and if paint keeps the issue in the spot light, so be it…….. I get my garage vandalised 2x a year the city isn’t breaking down any doors to solve that problem….. I am glad you follow all the rules and draw inside your lines, “you probably never get your colors mixed together”. But this city and state have been taking and taking and no one has said a word for years. From tolls, taxes, to fee’s for everything.
So play your role sit on the side lines and take comfort in your park magic, because you won’t get any from me….
Concerned Tax Payer, get a SpellMagic!
Okay are these ticket writers IDIOTS?
If the meter isn’t working, why take a picture of it AND write a ticket?
This is sheer lunacy–are they retarded?
Concerned Tax Payer Said:
“Can’t wait till you all get caught, destroying City Property, And then you will cry and ask for the help of the company to be easy on you. “
No, I think they know full well the risks they are taking, the same way that the Colonists knew they risked certain death when they declared Independence from Britain.
Concerned Tax Payer Said:
“I hope you are caught and fully prosucated.
I received a ticket from a meter that someone vandalized and of course had to go to court to fight the ticket.”
Is there some reason you couldn’t contest by mail? And why are you mad at the protestors, instead of the ticket writer who wrongfully wrote you a ticket? Why aren’t you mad that rates have gone up? That meter hours have increased? That everyday is a meter day, including holidays? That the boot is now applicable after only 2 unpaid tickets? That the City Government ran this through without proper research, public comment; or testimony from critics or experts?
Concerned Tax Payer Said:
“I told the Judge I have no issue paying for parking, I would have paid if the machine was in working order.(not due to the company of course, but a radical citizen of chicago) Thanks to the vandal that caused me to take off work and lose a days pay even though the ticket was thrown out, …”
Why did you park at a broken meter? Are you trying to get a free ride? Seems that you should have parked at a working meter so you could give your precious money to the city
If you are so stoked about paying for parking, and seem to have all the money in the world to do so, why not just pay the ticket? You wouldn’t have missed work, and would probably have made more money in the long run.
Or were you actually concerned about justice, at least when it comes to serving your own interests?
Concerned Tax Payer Said:
“…it’s totally unacceptable for someone that is honest to have to go through that kind of ordeal, due to someone that wants to make a stupid statement. “
Stupid statement? STUPID STATEMENT?
Since you don’t understand the concept going on here, let me educate you a bit.
The vandelism is obviously a direct action protest. Here’s the entry from Wikipedia:
Direct action is politically motivated activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political goals outside of normal social/political channels. Direct action can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action participant. Examples of nonviolent direct action include strikes, workplace occupations, sit-ins, and graffiti. Violent direct actions include sabotage, vandalism, assault, and murder. By contrast, grassroots organizing, electoral politics, diplomacy and negotiation or arbitration does not constitute direct action. Direct actions are sometimes a form of civil disobedience, but some (such as strikes) do not always violate criminal law.
Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi spoke and wrote of revolutionary direct action as a means to social change in their rhetoric.
Direct action participants aim to either:
• obstruct another political agent or political organization from performing some practice to which the activists object; or,
• solve perceived problems which traditional societal institutions (corporations, governments, powerful churches or establishment trade unions) are not addressing to the satisfaction of the direct action participants.
I think that the participants are doing the latter. This is far from a “stupid statement”. I think nothing else at this time is keeping this issue in the limelight as much as the destruction of the meters. And City Hall still isn’t listening.
“This transaction provided great benefit to Chicago taxpayers and residents, allowing us to continue providing vital services and avoid steep tax increases during this difficult economy,” Paul Volpe, Mayor Daley’s Chief of Staff said with defiance.
You call this avoiding steep tax increases? Money is money. Whether I pay at a meter or pay on my tax return makes no difference to me. This was taxation without representation. They considered no alternatives, and rushed the deal through in 2 days, without thinking about how this would affect the poor and middle class people who have to drive to get the kids to school, get to work, and put food on the table. They didn’t represent us at all.
The colonists in Boston seemed to think that radical illegal action was the only option left, but it’s people like you who would still be drinking your high dollar tea and paying your life away to Britain instead of enjoying the freedom you have here.
But sit back and enjoy it, that’s what we do here in this country for people like you. And by all means, keep paying those meters. (Thank God for Park Magic)
And do me a favor, next time park at a working meter so someone else can take advantage of the broken ones.
-John Adams
Well Said John Adams.
With this “concerned taxpayer”, we need a movie quote:
(Southern accent)What we’ve got here, is a failure to communicate. Some people you just can’t reach…(/Southern accent)
http://i39.tinypic.com/205b30l.jpg
I would love to impale Mayor Daley through the chest with a parking meter and stand over him with a sly grin as I watch the light leave his eyes.