By Alexis Tarrazi / Senior Reporter

(Jan. 6, 2010, 4:40 p.m.) — On a recent late afternoon, as the sun set on the underbelly of the dingy and dimly lit Route 3 overpass in East Rutherford, vibrant markings from a graffiti artist caught their final rays of illumination.

The illegal murals are permanently displayed on pylons that hold up the bridge over the Thomas E. Dunn Memorial Highway and NJ Transit train tracks. Some consider the work to be art, some a way to gain notoriety through tagging and others see it as vandalism.

Others believe it’s all of the above.

Photos by Alexis Tarrazi Graffiti illegally spray-painted underneath the Route 3 bridge on the border of Rutherford and East Rutherford is seen in many lights, depending on the eye of the beholder. Local police are trying to curb this illegal artwork.

“It’s a quality-of-life issue,” Rutherford Police Detective Michael Garner said of the graffiti in his jurisdiction. “A lot of people do it for notoriety. … They do it for exposure.”

Recently hit with an increase in graffiti, Rutherford was labeled with “Anthrax 1” and “THEOK” taggings in all four corners of the borough.

Park Avenue businesses and the train station were among victims of the crime, where stop signs, mailboxes, trash bins and sidewalks were prime targets.

A Rutherford resident and ex-graffiti artist who wished to remain anonymous due to his fear of repercussions from local police noted that tagging is a part of growing up. “It’s a phase that all kids go through,” he said in a phone interview with The Leader. “They do it as part of the feeling of rebellion or to feel bad ass.”

Beginning in seventh grade, this graffiti artist, now 24, started to tag at Pierrepont School in hallways and in bathrooms, but it was short lived as he was eventually caught and grounded.

Although the former graffiti artist no longer tags, he is still familiar with other types of graffiti that come in the form of spray-paint and stickers. “It’s more about art than graffiti; we call it street art,” he said.

This particular artist said he is known for his stickers posted around the country.

Some other local graffiti artists who are known for their work on Route 1 & 9 told The Leader, also under the condition of anonymity, that “it’s not about defacing public property, it’s about turning it into art.”

However, as colorful as the artwork may seem, graffiti is a crime and falls under the New Jersey Statute 2C:17-3 for criminal mischief. Depending on the amount of damage caused, this illegal art form can result in a third-degree charge and fine for $2,000 or more. A judge may also require the vandal to pay the property owner a monetary restitution.

“They are proud of their work,” Garner said of graffiti artists. “It’s an art to them, but not to the borough. The fact of the matter is it is an offense. It is against the law in New Jersey and it is strictly enforced in the Borough of Rutherford.”

Graffiti mainly takes the form of taggings in The Leader’s coverage area. Garner noted how a well-known tag is “PK Kid,” which is found on major highways, including the Route 3 bridge.

Officials with the Lyndhurst, East Rutherford, Rutherford and North Arlington police departments noted that they have been hit with taggings — some more frequently than others. North Arlington and Rutherford have seen a high number, while Lyndhurst has reported hardly anything.

To deter others, each borough has a policy of having the graffiti removed immediately.

“We try to aggressively address that type of criminal mischief, graffiti especially, because it negatively impacts the community,” said North Arlington Detective Lt. Keith Walton. “We try to get it cleaned up right away. That’s the kind of thing that attracts more.”

Garner, who is also a member of the New Jersey Gang Investigators Association, noted Rutherford follows by the four R’s of graffiti — read it, record it, report it and remove it.

Taking a more serious shape, graffiti can also be sprayed to represent a specific gang. Local police departments reported not having any gang-related graffiti recently.

Garner said there has been gang-related graffiti since he started his tenure with the department seven and a half years ago, but nothing recently.

In order to determine if graffiti is gang-related, Walton said he photographs the work and compares it to other local and state agencies’ photos.

Although no gang-related graffiti has appeared, alleged gang members do reside in the South Bergen area. Rutherford and East Rutherford police noted there are a few gang members in the area, while Lyndhurst Police Detective Capt. John Valente said there is probably only one, if any, in town.

Leon Rainbow, a Trenton-based graffiti artist, was once on the side of breaking the law, but has since turned a new leaf. He has turned his love for graffiti into a business, where he is hired to create murals. “Mostly everything I do now is legal,” Rainbow said. “People pay me to do things like signs or projects.”

Expanding his vision across the tri-state area, Rainbow’s work can be seen in Trenton, New Brunswick, Maywood and even Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

“Graffiti now is becoming more mainstream and more accepted by the general public and large corporations are also using graffiti in advertising,” Rainbow noted.

Rainbow is known locally for his work at Velocity 17, where he has spray-painted many murals. (Check out his work in the video embedded below or click here VIDEO.)

“I am not going to sit here and be hypocritical, but yeah graffiti does cause damage to property,” Rainbow said. “But if I never took a marker and tagged, then I would never do what I am doing now.”