Taki 183

Taki 183 New York's "first graffiti writer" finally has a nice website here.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s writing began to distinguish itself from other forms of graffiti. New york City Youth began writing their names in public areas methodically.TAKI was by no means the first writer or even the first king. He was however, the first to be recognized by the news media. Being the first writer recognized outside the sub-culture ensured TAKI a prominent place in graffiti history. Taki was Greek born, named Demetrios and his “tag” was short for Demetraki, the alternative of Demetrios. The number 183 came from his address on 183rd Street in Washington Heights. He was employed as a foot messenger, so he was on the subway frequently and took advantage of it. He tagged streets subway stations and subway cars. In addition to the subway his name appeared in business districts of Manhattan.



On July 21, 1971, The New York Times ran an article about him on the front page of its inside section, titled “Taki 183″ Spawns Pen Pals. TAKI 183’s newspaper fame spurred competitive tagging in NYC as his tag was being mimicked by hundreds of youth across the five boroughs.