Claim: Graffiti in New York City began appearing with the words "Bird Lives" and the center of graffiti culture shifted from Philadelphia to New York City.
Evidence: Modern graffiti began in Philadelphia, in the 1960s, but it appeared briefly before that shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird") in 1955. Graffiti then began appearing around New York City with the words "Bird Lives" but it was not for about one and a half more decades that graffiti became noticeable in NYC. So, around 1970-71 the center of graffiti culture shifted from Philadelphia to New York City, especially around Washington Heights, where suspects such as TAKI 183 and Tracy 168 started to gain notoriety for their frequent vandalism.