One of the city’s most prolific, and notorious, graffiti artists was in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday to face vandalism raps.
Adam Cole, better known by his tagger name “COST” and whose heyday was in the 1990s, kept trying to dodge a Post shutterbug in court, hiding behind his lawyer and bowing his head, but was unsuccessful.
With his tags everywhere in the 1990s, the graffiti artist, 45, lay low for 16 years until he re-emerged in 2014.
The surprisingly nebbishy-looking vandal was busted Oct. 5 when a cop caught him red-handed on West 13th Street.
Cole was holding a large paintbrush with adhesive on it used to affix posters and graffiti, a court complaint states.
The officer showed Cole a picture of his COST handiwork — to which the street artist allegedly replied proudly, “You know my graffiti,” court papers show.
The Queens native has allegedly plastered his posters all over Manhattan, including on a Federal Express building on Leroy Street, a deli on Eighth Avenue and on scaffolding, the court complaint states.
The last time the graffiti vandal’s picture was published was in 1995, after he was busted for tagging a mailbox, and even to law enforcement, his face has often been an unknown.
A judge estimated he had caused millions of dollars in damage. He faces criminal mischief, graffiti and other charges.
His defense lawyer, Stacey Richman, declined to comment.