Poster Boy (street Artist) - Legal Issues

Legal Issues

Poster Boy's cutting and pasting of subway advertisements is illegal. Previously his work had been noted by the MTA police, but did not seem a high priority for them. “Vandalism of our property is illegal, and we prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” spokesperson Aaron Donovan told reporter Brian Raftery. “That being said, the problem to date has been minimal.” He has had several brushes with the law, but on occasions transit police have let him go. On January 30, 2009, while attending a benefit for Friends We Love artist's video documentaries, a person thought to be Poster Boy was arrested by undercover police agents waiting for him. This "Poster Boy" was charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and went before a Judge on Monday, February 9, 2009.

At the hearing the man arrested, Henry Matyjewicz, 27, rejected a plea bargain, where he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, and perform 100 hours of “community service.” His lawyer, Kerry Gotlib, said his Mr. Matyjewicz was “innocent of the charges.” Mr. Matyjewicz is scheduled to appear back in court in April. If the case goes to a trial the top penalties for the charges could be jail for up to one year. However, on December 16, 2009, Matyjewicz pleaded guilty to the offenses. In exchange, the judge agreed to vacate the felony provided Matyjewicz served 210 hours of community service. Once completed, he would get three years’ probation.

Sometime around January 2009 Poster Boy's underground fame became such that there seemed to be several imitators, and his idea of having others "take up the Poster Boy model" seemed to be catching on. There even seems to be some confusion over whether the Poster Boy arrested on January 30, 2009, was the same Poster Boy who initiated the subway collages, or a "legal" above ground stand in. The New York Times reports a call from Poster Boy saying the man who was arrested "is one of the many individuals who believe in the Poster Boy 'movement'" The AdBusters website notes that “Sources close to the artist maintain that there are, in fact, multiple 'Poster Boys' presently engaged in the project." In an interview after the arrest, Henry Matyjewicz has said that "Henry is an artist just inspired by what’s going on with the Poster Boy movement."

Whatever the case may be, Matyjewicz (who his lawyer, Kerry Gotlib, has admitted in court and to the media as being THE "Poster Boy") continued to have run-ins with the law. On December 16, 2009, the very day he pled guilty in exchange for community service, Matyjewicz was arrested for turnstile-jumping allegedly on account of illegally using a discounted student MetroCard. Then, on January 22, 2010, while still on said probation, Matyjewicz was once more arrested for slicing up posters. While the DA was pressing for jail time on account of said arrest, due to a technicality, Matyjewicz was to receive only probation. On May 10, 2010, after skipping out on his May 6th court date, Matyjewicz (who had been expecting to be placed on probation again due an earlier court ruling) appeared in a Brooklyn court and was instead sentenced to 11 months incarceration at Rikers Island. Matyjewicz got out of jail on appeal of the sentence after 13 days. In an opinion dated January 25, 2011, the Second Department of the NY Supreme Court's Appellate Division sustained the appeal and vacated the trial court's decision and order of incarceration. The appellate court remanded the case to the trial court (but before a difference judge) for resentencing in accordance with the original, negotiated plea deal of just probation and community service.