These Vagabond Shoes Are Longing To Spray

Note Long Island bashing:

Graffiti does not seem to be much of a problem in the Port Washington. Not along Port Washington Boulevard, a main commercial strip. And certainly not on Graywood Lane.

That’s where Gregory Cianca, 24, lives with his family. But the place where Cianca puts his graffiti tag, VELO, is some 20 miles away, in Astoria, according to authorities.

Police sources who deal with taggers say more taggers are doing their work in the five boroughs because it gets them more attention, among other taggers and on Web sites dedicated to graffiti.

“This is how they make a name for themselves,” says one source. “You get a lot of attention if you tag in the city.”

. . .

Cianca’s lawyer says there’s no city-suburb dynamic here, no desire by his client to make his mark in the city.

“He’s just a local kid who grew up in Queens,” said Stephen Mahler. “It’s not like he’s going to the city from Long Island for graffiti.”

But police sources say differently. For year, police say they’ve seen Europeans cross the Atlantic solely to spray paint or scrawl their tags on subways, on bridges, on buildings, even videotaping their exploits so they can play superstar when they return home to show their friends. But they don’t always come from so far away.

Last year, Newsday told the story of JA, Jonathan Avildsen. His dad, John Avildsen, made a name for himself in Hollywood, as a movie director who won the Oscar for “Rocky,” and also directed “The Karate Kid” and “Lean on Me.”

The son, however, chose a different form of expression, tagging for so long he’s a graffiti legend. He has been arrested a number of times, according to authorities. But he often disappears for long stretches and heads back to his home in Westchester, sources say, allowing him to stay under the radar until he decides to tag again.