"Ray Ruybal Made His Mark," the Westword cover story I wrote for the July 17 issue, presents a very dim outlook on Denver’s anti-graffiti enforcement efforts from the city’s longest-serving graffiti warrior, former vandal squad detective Ray Ruybal (pictured). The article has apparently earned Ruybal much grief from within the department. A last hurrah, indeed.
It has also garnered reaction from readers, including one comment that describes the men’s bathroom in the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles office at 1865 W. Mississippi as one of the most horrendously tagged spaces in town:
"You will see about 300 square feet of graffiti on the walls. Not the 'nice' stuff either (with pictures and artwork), but rather EVERY racial slur and epithet imaginable. I'm not easily offended, but the stuff on that wall is really unimaginable. No really... Conveniently, since there's a single key and only one person at a time in the bathroom, it seems fairly easy to spend as much time in there and write anything about anyone you want. AND go back in a year... your comments will still be there as the State seems not to care, clean it up or prevent any new graffiti."
I had to see this spot for myself. But apparently I wasn’t the only one. Either by coincidence or as a result of the comment, the men’s room graffiti was completely covered over with very fresh paint the time I arrived yesterday afternoon. Who says the state doesn’t care? Photo after the jump. -- Jared Jacang Maher
Beautiful puke green!
