Tearing Down the Streets Adventures in Urban Anarchy

From New York to San Francisco, Times Square to the Tenderloin, graffiti artists, young people, radical environmentalists, and the homeless clash with police on city streets in an attempt take back urban spaces from the developers and "disneyfiers". Drawing on more than a decade of first-hand research, this lively account goes inside the worlds of street musicians, homeless punks, militant bicycle activists, high-risk "BASE jump" parachutists, skateboarders, outlaw radio operators, and hip hop graffiti artists, to explore the day-to-day skirmishes in the struggle over public life and public space.

Jeff Ferrell is Professor of Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. His books include Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and The Politics of Criminology. He lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.