Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder recently told the Daily News, “Graffiti is just the first act of vandalism. It oftentimes leads to drug abuse and drug sales.” Not surprisingly Mr. Goldfeder cited no studies to support his art to drug addict theory and instead invoked the NYPD’s “broken windows” strategy of policing. On his own State Assembly page Goldfeder also accused toymaker Jakks Pacific of using marketing to, “encourage unsuspecting children to deface their communities” and again called graffiti a “gateway crime.”
Goldfeder revealed his misconceptions of addiction, crime, and graffiti while speaking in support of his campaign to convince Toys “R” Us to pull the product “Kidffiti” from their shelves. Kidffiti is a street chalk packaged in aerosol cans and marketed to kids 6 and up that according to the manufacturer, Jakks Pacific, allows “kids, young and old, to express themselves creatively through art.” For those of you who’s children’s can control is lacking Kidffiti also has a stencil pack for the future “street artists.”
For more check out:
grafflawblog 
Is speeding also considered a gateway crime? What about chalk on sidewalks (a crime the nypd has also pursued)?