NEW ORLEANS - Fred Radtke, the infamous scourge of graffiti also known as the Gray Ghost, ran into a brick wall Wednesday while painting over one.

While John Hartsock, co-owner of the Hi-Ho Lounge, was driving home at approximately 3 p.m. he noticed Radtke and several workers painting over a well-known mural on the side of the Southern Waterproofing building, 2930 Burgundy St.

Hartsock asked one of the owners of Southern waterproofing, Michelle Gallodoro, if she had given Radtke permission to paint over the mural.

Not only had Gallodoro not given Radtke permission to paint over the mural, she said she had told him on several occasions and written him letters demanding that he stop painting over the piece.

So Gallodoro called 911 and the National Guard arrived and chased Radtke off. It is not known whether Radtke will be issued a citation by the New Orleans Police Department but Gallodoro will press charges.

“The neighborhood people are really upset he’s been doing this,” she said. “We don’t want him here anymore. He is making everything worse.”

Gallodoro allowed neighborhood artists to paint the mural on her building so long as it wasn’t offensive or gang-related. A week after they first completed the mural, Radtke painted over it, she said. So Gallodoro told Radtke that he had no right to come on her private property and paint over something she approved.

Radtke left, the artists repainted, and a week later the Gray Ghost was back splashing gray paint over Gallodoro’s property, she said.

“It’s been going on and on like this. No matter what we say he doesn’t listen. This guy is running around throwing paint on private property, and no one is doing anything to stop him. Everyone knows that he defaces private property without permission and yet he’s never fined or jailed or anything.”

One of the things that i've missed from my days in AZ is the lowrider bike culture. Primarily a Latino craft, it's not that prevalent in New Orleans, although i admit that i'm not ingrained in the bike culture here, so I could be totally wrong, because there is a thriving bike culture here despite how bike UN-friendly the streets are here. NOLA has so far to go on this tip. And NOLA is really a great place that could be totally bike-sessible b/c so many peeps are 'hood centric, that riding a bike 'round your own self-contained hood really makes sense.

Today at one of me and mr lizn't's (yes, grammarians all over are freaking out at that) food celebrations, we hit up Juan's Flying Burrito on Magazine St, and what do we see, but this lowrider bike of beauty. Luckily, the owner and builder of the bike comes out, and i am able to grab an on-the-spot interview with him. He hand built the bike, and I was so bike-struck, that I couldn't think of all the questions I should have asked him, like if he does this for others, or if this is just his personal hobby.

At any rate, hit up Juan's, especially now, when the weather is nice enough to sit outside, have a yummy quesadilla, and give your boy Angus props on his ride. Because my little phone cam pics do not do the bike justice at all. (one day, a google Android phone will be mine)

[caption id="attachment_303" align="alignnone" width="263" caption="Angus and his Lowrider bike"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_297" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Hand built low rider bike by Angus, NOLA"][/caption]

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