The tag of the graffiti artist featured in The New York Times in 1971 was TAKI 183.
TAKI 183 was the signature of a Greek-American teenager from Washington Heights in northern Manhattan. “TAKI” came from a Greek nickname related to his given name, Demetrios, while “183” referred to 183rd Street, where he lived. He wrote the tag throughout the city while working as a foot messenger, helping make the practice of putting one’s name up across New York more visible.
On July 21, 1971, The New York Times published the article “’Taki 183’ Spawns Pen Pals.” The article brought a previously local subculture to a broad public audience and inspired hundreds of imitators to create tags combining names or nicknames with street numbers.
The wording can cause a historical misunderstanding: TAKI 183 was not necessarily the first person ever to write graffiti in New York. Julio 204 is often cited as an earlier writer. TAKI 183’s distinction is that he became the first graffiti writer to gain major newspaper fame, making his tag the canonical answer to this question.