R.I.P. KOS

Posted Monday, January 08, 2007 @ 01:27 in Culture by Michael Vazquez

R.I.P. KOS

As year-end statistics point toward a significant jump in vandalized trains, graffiti arrests and budgetary spending on cleanup, the first week of 007 has tallied a single grim statistic which reminds us of the real risks faced by writers of all stripes from every neighborhood.

13 year-old Ari Kraft, aka KOS, from Rego Park, Queens lost his young life on Friday afternoon when a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter train struck him as he ran across the tracks. Reportedly, KOS had just tagged a box containing signal equipment and was heading home.

Generally, the LIRR trains come on a very fixed schedule, and are detectable from longer distances, because they run on a mostly outdoor stretch of track. But LIRR trains also travel at much faster speeds than city subway lines, and are also much quieter, and these two factors make for a few very deadly blind spots along the seemingly benign, there-for-the-taking line.

Speaking as a native New Yorker, and with full respect for the young man and his family in this tragic hour, I can't help but wonder if perhaps the young man was trying to beat the train at the last minute, possibly engaging in a not totally uncommon daredevil practice, which for some writers provides one last thrill after a bombing session. I have no idea whether this is the case here and rather than speculate further, it merits saying to all writers everywhere that the extra jolt of beating a train, riding on the back -- or tops as some did in the 70's, (R.I. P. to many including Tony Goffe, J.H.S. 145) -- just isn't worth it. Writing is dangerous enough as it is.

Last time I was on the LIRR I was astonished at how many tags there were along the cement walls that taper down from tunnels and even the back walls of some of the businesses that are situated along the train lines. Equipment boxes have always been tagged by writers, and the LIRR was no exception. I have to admit that I did look upon 99% of what I saw on the LIRR line as the silly indulgences of outer-borough kids whom had the luxury of simply picking their choice from many spots along the endless stretch of deserted track. But as this new year tragedy indicates, anybody whom feels the need to get up will always face a very real threat, and needs to watch their back at all times.

It’s worth watching how this tragedy will affect the policing of the LIRR train lines, in a time when the city's Transit Authority and Vandal Squad have vowed to clamp down even harder on all graf, from stiffening penalties further to placing protective strips on windows to guard against the exponential growth in acid graf tags (as I reported in URB, November ’98).

To the family and friends of this young man and all those who've lost their life in that timeless quest to write their name in public for more reasons than any sociologist or cultural anthropologists could ever uncover, I place my had over my heart and bow my head. Rest in peace. Michael Vazquez

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