The shrinking remnants of Moser Tannery can't take much more of this strange "love" from Team Gahan.

There was a fire over the weekend at, in or near the former Moser Tannery, which the city of New Albany purchased last year as part of its plan to render the Loop Island Wetlands into a proper, campaign-finance-accruing parks unit for the greater glory of Gahanism.

WDRB mentioned the fire, but did not follow-up. Don't even ask about the Collected Works of Tom May, formerly known as the 'Bune, which evidently was busy sponsoring a barbecue coloring book contest somewhere near River Ridge.

The fire was the second in the vicinity of the tannery since early March, when a late-model industrial warehouse adjacent to the remaining brick building went up in flames. 

Is it just me, or has the abuse of the tannery site -- graffiti, vandalism, garbage and fires -- escalated noticeably since City Hall (ahem) took control?

I'm sure Dear Leader's official party line still calls for the reclamation of the main structure into something suitably luxurious to impel the mayor up from the bunker and out for a ribbon-cutting.

But right about now, it looks like the longer the city sits tight doing nothing at the Moser footprint, the greater chance there'll be nothing left to do anything with. 

Whether Beirut or New Albany, grassroots public art threatens the dogs playing poker.

Public art from the grassroots, spreading up -- and not courtesy of the local elites, dribbling down?

The response from the pillars is predictable, whether the particular site is in Beirut or New Albany:

"Local politicians feel threatened."

Painting and politics: graffiti in Beirut (The Economist's Espresso)

Today Lebanon’s street artists will congregate in Ouzai, a seaside suburb, to put the final touches on an enormous public-art project. Dubbed Ouzville, it was initiated by Ayad Nasser, a local property developer. Much of Ouzai was constructed illegally during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war; these days it is often labelled a ghetto. But since May, dozens of artists have covered its ramshackle buildings with colourful murals, drawing new visitors to the area, boosting both its reputation and local businesses. It’s not all plain sailing, though. While the police often stop to chat and take selfies with graffiti artists, local politicians feel threatened. They suspect Mr Nasser of lavishing money on Ouzai as a precursor to standing for election. He insists the $100,000 he has spent is simply his way of giving back, and plans to launch a crowd-funding campaign to repeat the project in other poor areas.

Here's the web site photo credit for the view shown above.

20 Gorgeous Murals in Ouzai’s Ouzville District, at Gino's Blog

... Of course, I can already hear some of you typing up comments about how painting graffiti on a neglected community won’t really help pull the area out of its tough socioeconomic situation. True. But, art never hurt anyone, and the fact the area is quickly becoming a hot destination for these colorful murals by artists from around the world, it’s certain that more people will be willing to let go of their prejudices about the area and come down and spend a few hours walking around, having a meal, looking for old villas nestled on what used to be the seashore and maybe having a freshly-squeezed cup of juice as airplanes land a few hundred meters next to you.

Bicentennial Park Snow Schlong proves conclusively that public art can be turgid, indeed.

This Big Bicentennial Park Johnson's pointed right at you.

On the waterfront in the fog, but with a pleasing throwback.

Last Friday morning (October 24).

More vicious gang graffiti ... and right downtown!

Boy, it's a good thing Frank Bill didn't see these when he was in town.

Pair of sneakers beats a full NSP house?

There has been an animated off-line discussion about this piece, which appeared in Granta way back in September, when our attention was diverted from gangs to gaping bridge holes. My guess is that Bob Caesar won't be asking Mr. Bill to write the forward for James A. Crutchfield's bicentennial book.

The Heartland: Ten Years After 9/11, by Frank Bill

 ... We drive down Vincennes Street, the main drag in New Albany, Indiana. From Vincennes, the area appears safe. But cruise the side streets around the high school and S Ellen Jones Elementary School and it’s turf. Houses are tagged with gang graffiti. Every block is marked as territory. He points out a pair of sneakers hanging from their laces on a power line. ‘It marks the area. It means a drug dealer is living at one of these houses. Sells right out here.’

‘These gangs sell meth?’ I ask.

‘They do,’ Merritt tells me. ‘And crack, marijuana, various prescription meds.’

The Economist: "Clearing up graffiti or littering promptly could help fight the spread of crime."

While others cling to their religion and guns, leaving observers unsure as to which poses the bigger threat to personal health and well-being, I persist in reading the British newspaper that accurately called the recent presidential election, which resulted in Barack Obama’s victory, and made it possible for Tribune guest local columnists to pretend they’re being satirical.

Criminology: Can the can, from the Nov. 20 print edition of The Economist.

The idea that graffiti-spraying and other forms of low-level delinquency promote further bad behaviour has now been tested experimentally.

A place that is covered in graffiti and festooned with rubbish makes people feel uneasy. And with good reason, according to a group of researchers in the Netherlands. Kees Keizer and his colleagues at the University of Groningen deliberately created such settings as a part of a series of experiments designed to discover if signs of vandalism, litter and low-level lawbreaking could change the way people behave. They found that they could, by a lot: doubling the number who are prepared to litter and steal.

The experiments are described in detail, leading to this conclusion:

“The message for policymakers and police officers is that clearing up graffiti or littering promptly could help fight the spread of crime.”

Think about this the next time you drive through one of New Albany's myriad slumlord protection districts, and consider another year's passage without meaningful reform amid the absence of money that might be devoted to police and fire protection, as well as pro-active efforts to enforce ordinances and keep the city's neighborhoods clean.