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Ridgewood’s war against illegal graffiti resumes with cleanups across the community

July 2 001
Photos courtesy of the Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation

The Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation (GRRC) is back at it again, making the greater Ridgewood area a beautiful place to live with the start of their graffiti removal program this month after a short winter hiatus.

For the last 25 years GRRC has cleaned graffiti in all the neighborhoods that make up Community Board 5 (CB 5) — Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village.

The crews use paint remover and a hot water pressure washer to remove graffiti from washable surfaces like brick, and they paint over unsightly graffiti on non-washable surfaces. Between April and November, GRRC crews are out working on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to keep the community beautiful.

“The GRRC graffiti-cleaning crew is already hard at work removing graffiti vandalism, and volunteers and staff are out surveying the neighborhood for graffiti locations,” said Christa Walls, GRRC’s community liaison specialist. “We’ve noticed quite a rise in graffiti vandalism in the past few months.”

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Since its inception in 1992, the GRRC graffiti cleaning program has scrubbed and painted over 5,800 locations throughout the neighborhoods, all free of charge because the anti-graffiti program is fully funded by grants and donations.

Property owners with graffiti on their buildings or concerned citizens can report a graffiti location to the GRRC, who will come out and remove the vandalism.

The GRRC relies on the support of local residents to keep the anti-graffiti program running. If you would like to make a monetary donation, or donate time by volunteering, call the GRCC at 718-366-8721, write them at 68-58 Forest Ave., Ridgewood, NY, 11385, or visit their website at www.ridgewoodrestoration.org.