By James DeWeese
Detective Glen Yule of the Woodside-based 108th Precinct told members of Community Board 2 last Thursday that the reward came as part of a departmental initiative to reclaim open spaces throughout the city by encouraging public involvement. In total, callers who provide information that leads to a conviction could be eligible for up to $1,000 through the department's reward and a similar one from the City Council, Yule said.Separate pieces of legislation also have been introduced that would raise the council reward to $1,000 as well as ban the sale of spray paint in the city except to licensed contractors or artists, said a spokesman for City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria).Yule and fellow Det. Thomas Tarantola said graffiti had long been overlooked as a lesser crime despite its obviousness.”For so long people turned their back on it,” Tarantola said.The new reward, which covers all precincts in the city, comes at a time when city enforcement agencies have racheted up pressure on graffiti vandals, who Yule said often thrive on the negative publicity they attain through the media. Meanwhile, grassroots efforts, including a new task force spearheaded by City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) and a handful of Woodside groups, also have sprung up to combat the scourge.In western Queens, residents and shop owners recently breathed a collective sigh of relief after months-long police investigations ended with the arrest of two graffiti taggers suspected of vandalizing fences, buildings and stores in Fresh Meadows, Corona and elsewhere. Officials have said major strides have been made in attacking graffiti, but last week's defacing of a restored Redbird subway car – six days after it was delivered to Borough Hall's East Lawn to serve as a new visitors' information center – offered a powerful reminder that more remains to be done.In Woodside, Yule said police currently are on the look out for a particularly recalcitrant recidivist who has been arrested five times on a raft of charges including graffiti and robbery. He declined to comment on the tag employed by the youth.Particularly hard-hit areas along Skillman Avenue near the intersection of 50th Avenue and above and 48th Avenue at 39th Street, the site of an abandoned factory, Yule said.Yule told residents who witness a graffiti artist in the act not to hesitate in calling 911.”Please call 911 – it's not a 311 issue, it's not an issue to be called into the precinct – graffiti is taken very seriously,” Yule said. Residents with information about a crime that is not immediate can contact the citywide anti-graffiti task force through the non-emergency 311 number, he said.Reach reporter James DeWeese by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
