Image via Complex Original
In the 1970s and 1980s, subway trains from Brooklyn to the Bronx were covered in millions of graffiti tags. The NYC subway was the beating heart of the graffiti movement, and it gave rise to some of the most famous street artists and photographers in graffiti history. But at the same time, the New York City metro system was the site of violence and crime, giving rise to the Guardian Angels, a volunteer organization to keep the subways safe. In 1989, the MTA began to fight back against the underground artists with the Clean Train Movement, and now subway cars are (mostly) stripped of the old school writing. With the crackdown on subway graffiti, artists moved to other canvases like walls and rooftops. In an effort to capture the birthplace of the New York graffiti movement, here are 20 Vintage New York Graffiti Photos from the subways to the streets.
RELATED: 23 Incredible Vintage Photographs of London
RELATED: The 50 Greatest NYC Graffiti Artists
RELATED: Green Label - A Look at the Best Graffiti Spots in the World
A Couple Looks Through a Window to the Next Subway Car
Photo credit: Jamel Shabazz / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1980
"If Graffiti Is a Crime, Let God Forgive Us"
Photo credit: Pierre Roussel / Liaison / Getty Images
Date: Feb. 21, 1988
Subway Train Graffiti From the 1970s
Photo credit: Leo Vals / Getty Images
Date: Jan.1, 1975
Two Boys Work on Their Homework
Photo credit: Linda Schaefer / Getty Images
Date: March 12, 1982
"Smash U.S. Pig Power" on a Garbage Can Outside the Black Panther Office in Harlem
Photo credit: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1970
Four Jewish Men Discuss a Newspaper Article
Photo credit: Linda Schaefer / Getty Images
Date: Feb. 13, 1982
"Rejoice" on a Wall in Central Park
Photo credit: Ernst Haas / Getty Images
Date: April 1, 1978
Lisa Sliwa, Member of the Guardian Angels
Photo credit: Oliver Morris / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1985
An Unidentified Guardian Angel Rides the Subway
Photo credit: Oliver Morris / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1985
Graffiti Protesting Nuclear Tests in Utah
Photo credit: Ernst Haas / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1980
Graffiti on an IRT Carriage
Photo credit: F. Roy Kemp / Getty Images
Date: July 1, 1972
Two Young Men Pose With a Boom Box
Photo credit: Jamel Shabazz / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1980
7th Ave. Subway Train Covered in Graffiti
Photo credit: Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1980
A Couple Reads Newspapers on the Subway
Photo credit: F. Roy Kemp / Getty Images
Date: July 1, 1972
Graffiti Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photo credit: Ernst Haas / Getty Images
Date: Feb. 28, 1975
Subway Train Graffiti From the 1980s
Photo credit: Pictorial Parade / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1980
A Man Reads on the Subway
Photo credit: F. Roy Kemp / Getty Images
Date: July 1, 1972
An Undercover Cop Stands in Front of "Toxic Junkie" Graffiti During the 1980s Drug War on the Lower East Side
Photo credit: Michael Brennan / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1985
A Graffiti-Covered Wall from 1980
Photo credit: Ernst Haas / Getty Images
Date: Jan. 1, 1980
Michael Jackson During the Filming of the Music Video for "Bad"
Photo credit: Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Date: Nov. 1, 1986
