New York's most wanted graffiti artist is unmasked... as a retired NYPD cop



After years of tracking one of the most prolific graffiti artists to hit New York City subways in the last 30 years, police have finally unmasked the vandal, only to learn that he used to be one of them.

Steven Weinberg has been identified as the graffiti artist who goes by the name 'Neo' whose work began appearing in the 1980s.

Much of the sightings of Neo tags are based in Queens- where Mr Weinberg lives- but also have been spotted on up to 16 different train lines throughout the city.

Ex-cop by day, vandal by night? Steven Weinberg, who was forced out of the NYPD due to a leg injury, faces graffiti vandalism charges

With his work: The website Subway Outlaws served as an outlet for Neo to speak about his work, shown in a fuzzed-out photo here

Weinberg retired from the New York Police Department in 2001 after a work injury hurt his leg.

According to Weinberg, he stopped doing graffiti in 1995 when he joined the police as a patrolman, though his former peers beg to differ.

In an anonymous post on a graffiti-makers website, the mysterious man behind the symbol Neo said that he started tagging in Flushing, Queens in 1978, focusing 'mainly hitting-up my name on the stairways in my building,' he writes.



'Climbing on rooftops, swinging from elevated platforms, and almost getting hit by trains pulling out, is what I call fun,' he continued in the post.

At the end of his long story, name-dropping the various fellow vandals he worked with and rehashing some of the more adventurous stories, the write admits that he eventually became a cop.

'Sorry, but I needed a job,' the post concludes.

In the last two years, police have been seeing the Neo tag on new buildings and walls, prompting them to investigate the vandal.

One example in particular caught the eye of the investigators- the Neo posting on the walls of the Clearview Expressway that was spotted in May 2009.

Problem picture: This tag appeared in 2009, and has since been the heart of the City's case against Steven Weinberg, saying it shows that he is still active

Though they arrested Weinberg for the crime, along with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanour making graffiti, there are conflicting reports about the veracity of the accusation.



The New York Post says that Weinberg, who is now married and is a father, admitted to the 2009 incident, while Gothamist says that Weinberg maintains that he is innocent on account of this crippling leg injury.

In 2001, Weinberg reluctantly turned in his badge after a fall during a homicide pursuit left him with serious nerve damage and began receiving $38,000 per year in disability pay-offs from the NYPD.

Now, his lawyer Patrick Broderick is pushing to keep his client out from behind the bars that he used to close on criminals.

All over the place: Neo's tags have been spotted on walls, trains, and trucks

'It is ludicrous because he is physically incapable of doing that,' Mr Broderick said.

Weinberg walks with a cane and has since the incident in 2001, which would lead people to support Mr Broderick's assertions, but police insist that they have more than enough proof that Weinberg and Neo are one in the same.

His trial is expected to begin on Thursday of this week, though that is just the beginning of his legal troubles. Weinberg also filed a counter-suit against the City, saying his arrest was based off 'defective information'.

Around the corner: Neo started tagging in his neighbourhood of Queens



