Draft:Jimmy and the Jaywalkers

Jimmy and the Jaywalkers is an American folk-rock band founded in Brooklyn, New York as a musical side project of journalist Gersh Kuntzman. The band has released five LPs, but is best known for its single, "Criminal Mischief," which the New Yorker magazine called an "ear worm"

The band was founded in late 2022 after New York City lawyer Adam White, then of the law firm Vaccaro and White, was arrested for repairing a defaced license plate. White was charged with "criminal mischief," inspiring Kuntzman to write a protest song in the style of Bob Dylan and to begin documenting his own crusade to rid the city of covered or defaced license plates. Kuntzman's exploits and song were covered in the media.

Jimmy and the Jaywalkers followed up the success of "Criminal Mischief" with another single linked to car culture: "Where Do My Neighbors Live," which examined insurance fraud. The song was part of a multi-episode YouTube series of the same name.

'Criminal Mischief'
The band's sole song to break into the public consciousness was the 2022 single, "Criminal Mischief." The song was inspired by the arrest of lawyer Adam White for clearing away a piece of plastic that was blocking several numerals on a driver's license plate. The driver called police, who arrested White and charged him with "criminal mischief."

That charge was quickly dropped by the office of Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez because of a lack of evidence.

White eventually sued the NYPD for wrongful arrest, a case that is pending as of June, 2024.

In an interview with Errol Louis on NY1 News, Kuntzman described the single as "a stupid little folk song ... like Dylan would do about, you know, Hattie Carroll or whatever."

He continued, "But then I got so excited about the song, I thought, wait a minute, maybe I could get arrested for criminal mischief. And then that would be its own story that the rest of the media would have to do and then pay attention to this issue. So like, like everything else, it started as a, as a cry in the wilderness, if you will, you know? And it worked. It took off."

There is some evidence that police officers, who had been accused for years of covering or defacing their license plates, drew the attention of NYPD superiors and have been discouraged from the practice.

Discography

 * All The Places That I Touch You (2022)
 * Self Taut (2023)
 * Transister Skyline (2023)
 * The Record Company Obligation (2023)
 * Live at the Port Authority (2024)