Ecko Wins Right To Hold Getting Up Game Party

Fashion designer and game co-brander Marc Ecko has announced his apparent victory in a lawsuit the Company filed against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City of New York, following a previous decision by the City to block a street party based around the forthcoming The Collective-developed, Atari-published video game Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, a title which some are claiming glorifies the 'antisocial' hobby of graffiti. Though Ecko had secured the necessary permits to hold a "Getting Up Block Party" in celebration of the game, the mayor's office withdrew its approval late last week. "The city isn't obligated to permit an event on a public street that encourages the vandalism of subway cars in the name of selling T-shirts and video games," said mayoral spokesman Ed Skyler. The exhibition had planned to feature graffiti artists in the act of creation using replica subway cars as a canvas. Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself added at the time that "We have talked to them and asked them to not have a subway car motif to write graffiti. This is not really art or expression. This is - let's be honest about what it is - it's trying to encourage people to do something that's not in anybody's interest." However, commenting on the court's new decision, Ecko stated: "Today is further affirmation that graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history. This event was conceived as a tribute to the roots of graffiti culture, a time in New York City's history that I chose to believe was worth fighting to preserve... Graffiti does not, as some in city hall have claimed, have to be a gateway to crime. It can also be a gateway to opportunity and success when channeled properly, and I hope that the Mayor accepts my offer to join me on Wednesday as we channel our creative energies together." Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is due out for release on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2 in the near future.