Queens councilman Peter Vallone Jr. has a beef with urban fashion mogul and graffiti fan Marc Ecko. First, Vallone pressured Mayor Bloomberg to revoke a permit for a graffiti-themed block party Ecko was throwing; a judge ultimately granted Ecko his permit. Then Ecko funded opposition to Valloneās anti-graffiti legislation; a judge knocked down Valloneās bill. Now, on May 9, Vallone will introduce revised anti-graffiti laws. āWeāre not backing down,ā Vallone says, adding that heās been in contact with law enforcement about one of Eckoās close pals, graffiti artist Alain MaridueƱa (known as KET), who faces up to twenty years in prison for his tags. āPete Vallone is like the Alberto Gonzales of City Hall,ā says Daniel Perez, who is Ecko and KETās lawyer, and suggests that Valloneās influenceāhe chairs the committee that oversees the Police Departmentās and district attorneyās budgetsācould affect the case against KET. Vallone says, āI wish I had the power heās insinuating. But this is a wacky theory they are putting out to helpā KET, whom he calls āobviously guilty.ā Says Perez, āGuilty, according to whom?ā
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