New York City graffiti began to evolve into street art in the 1970s and 1980s. The origins of graffiti can be traced back to the early 1960s, when young people in the city began to use spray paint and markers to write their names and messages on subway trains and public buildings. This early graffiti was primarily focused on writing, or "tagging," and was often seen as vandalism.
In the 1970s, a new generation of graffiti artists began to emerge in New York City. These artists began to use more complex imagery and techniques, and their work began to be seen as a form of public art. They started to use the city's walls, buildings and trains as their canvas, and started to create more elaborate and expressive works. The work of these artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, began to gain recognition and acceptance as a legitimate form of public art.
During the 1980s, graffiti art continued to evolve and gain popularity, and many of the artists began to be commissioned to create murals and other works for public spaces. This is when it started to be recognized as street art. Street art is a term that refers to a range of forms of public art that includes graffiti, murals, stickers, and other forms of visual expression.
The term street art is generally used to describe artworks that are created in public spaces and are not typically found in galleries or museums, whereas graffiti is considered to be a more specific form of street art that involves writing or tagging. Today, many artists who began their careers as graffiti writers have become respected street artists, and their work can be found in galleries and museums around the world.