Bay Terrace fights graffiti

In an ongoing struggle against vandals, the Bay Terrace Community Alliance (BTCA) has teamed up with Citizens Against Graffiti Everywhere (CAGE) and has taken to the streets to obliterate graffiti in their neighborhood.
Their most recent effort was on Saturday, June 16 when teams of the two civic-minded groups fanned out to thwart graffiti criminals also known as “taggers” by removing or painting over their defacements wherever they found them.
The BTCA is a civic association founded in 1999, and is dedicated to improve and enhance the quality of life in Bay Terrace. Their stated goal is to make Bay Terrace “100 percent graffiti free” by the end of the summer.
CAGE is an organization made up of about 30 civic organizations, including the BTCA, who are fighting graffiti with a long-term strategic plan involving youth education, graffiti removal and paint-overs, illegal commercial sign removal and cooperation with various city agencies.
According to BTCA spokesperson Matthew Silverstein, “We had reports of graffiti in about 60 locations and we were able to clean up over 30 of them that afternoon. We’re keeping after it.” The graffiti was removed from street signs, telephone booths, utility poles, mail boxes and street lights.
They say they will continue to send their “graffiti buster” squads out into the neighborhood to remove graffiti until the “criminals stop doing graffiti in the Bay Terrace community.”
The BTCA urges all local residents to call them at 718-907-6198, or call 3-1-1 if they find graffiti near their homes.
If you see someone in the process of doing graffiti, call the emergency line, 9-1-1. There is a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals.