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| by Michelle Staley, Chronicle Correspondent | October 07, 2004 |
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| Anti
Graffiti
Rally In Bayside Stresses Need To Restore Funds |
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“We’re here to say that we think it should be restored,” Congressman Anthony Weiner said during the rally at the Commerce Bank on Northern Boulevard. “We are not going to accept graffiti as the background of our lives.” |
| Weiner
and Councilman Tony Avella signed a petition requesting Mayor Bloomberg
to restore anti-graffiti funding and programs. “The quality of life in Queens neighborhoods throughout the city is in jeopardy if graffiti is allowed to spread unchecked. We cannot let this happen,” the resolution stated. “Graffiti is something everybody sees the minute they come out of their house,” Avella said. “It hits a nerve with everybody. We’re all concerned.” He said the Department of Transportation’s funding to remove graffiti has been completely cut. The Sanitation Department budget has also been slashed. Avella said he is unsure of the decrease, explaining it took six months of continual contacts with the department before he was told funding was no longer available. The New York City Police Department’s Anti-Graffiti Unit also was recently merged into a city wide vandals unit. Avella feels the reassignment will decrease the department’s effectiveness in fighting graffiti. When officers are assigned specifically to the problem and their job performance is measured on how effectively it has been combated, the success rate is going to be higher, he said. Weiner agreed. Officers often view graffiti as a “footnote on their footnote,” he said, explaining that graffiti often takes a back seat to other problems officers encounter. “They don’t think it is part of their job.” North Flushing Civic Association President Tyler Cassell said graffiti gives the impression that gangs are running the city. “We send the wrong message to the community by letting graffiti show up in our neighborhoods,” he said. “I thought it was important to come out and support this cause.” Cassell said when he saw Avella painting over mailboxes scribbled with graffiti he knew the councilman was invested in the community. Kissena Park Civic Association Vice President Beverly McDermitt applauded Avella and Weiner for taking a strong stance. “Some of our leaders are only concerned about in-your-face issues,” she said. McDermitt lives a block from Kissena Park and her association has dealt with painting over a wall in the park that is vandalized on a regular basis. Fighting graffiti often involves painting over the same area multiple times. Business and home owners feel it is a waste of time to repair the damage because someone will vandalize it again, she said. Often areas require re-painting before a message is sent to culprits and the area is finally left alone, McDermitt added. While young people are often thought to be the perpetrators, vandals are all different age groups and ethnicities, she said. For example, one 50-year-old man was caught. McDermitt believes young people often want to be noticed and fail to use their energy to positively affect the community. “It is an expression of ‘I have nothing to do. I have lots of energy and there is no place for me to put it all,’” she said. She rejects the idea that graffiti is art. “To call it art is an insult to our culture.” The defacing also has a negative impact on beautifying the landscape, McDermitt said, explaining that owners feel there is no point in planting bushes and flowers in graffiti-ridden areas. Often property owners have to give permission to individuals and groups who are trying to get rid of graffiti, said Marion Millett, who attended the rally. “It’s not being addressed,” she said. “There’s graffiti. It’s all over.” |
