As members of the Our Neighbors Civic Association of Ozone Park entered the American Legion Post #632 on Tuesday, March 4, one could not ignore the graffiti on a wall across the street or on the many buildings in Ozone Park.
Commanding officer Captain Charles McEvoy of the 102nd Precinct brought along Police Officer John McCoy, head of the graffiti task force, to talk to residents about the latest efforts on fighting graffiti in the area.
McEvoy assured those gathered that he has the right officer to handle the situation. “Graffiti is taken very seriously. I’ve never seen anyone tackle the graffiti problem like Officer McCoy. He is like a one-man machine,” said McEvoy.
McCoy said that he is always on the prowl for graffiti vandals, but he is especially looking for a certain individual by the name “SUM Z” that has hit over 50 locations. “We are trying to put a hold on it. It’s hard, but we need your help as well. If you ever see anyone doing graffiti before or after the fact, please call 9-1-1,” the captain said. He is confident that SUM Z will be apprehended.
President Eric Ulrich led an effort last spring to clean up 11 locations in Ozone Park which stayed graffiti free for about 40 days. “This guy SUM Z set us back in four days about four months,” Ulrich said. “We will not give up. We will clean them up again and will work closely with the 102nd Precinct to make sure they catch these guys so that they don’t mark up the walls after we clean them.”
Vita Zito frowns when she talks about the spray paint mess that adorns many walls in the community and even some homes. “It kills us. They even graffiti the homes. That’s horrible. You come out of your home and you see this. It’s horrendous and if you see them and you say something to them, they curse you unbelievably,” Zito said.
McEvoy also responded to noise complaint questions by assuring residents that the precinct will not tolerate excessive noise and will respond to complaints swiftly as the spring and summer months approach. “Call us immediately. We are going to have zero tolerance. We are going to set the tone right away,” McEvoy said.
Councilmember Joseph Addabbo was also in attendance to talk about the New York City budget, which does not look promising. The budget of $60 billion, two thirds of which are our tax dollars, goes into effect July 1. The city also has a $4 billion deficit, which will result in important services being cut. City agencies are being asked to cut another 3 percent. There will be public safety and education cuts as well, he said.
Addabbo believes that one way to reduce cuts is for the city to aggressively go after those scofflaws that owe the city money. “Many individuals are not paying water bills, property taxes, and parking tickets. If the city makes an effort to get out there and find that money, it will be significant,” Addabbo said.
Addabbo is angry that senior citizens may be squeezed out by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “The mayor shouldn’t be talking about the closing of senior centers. For some of these seniors, this is all they have. These centers are their family,” Addabbo said. He also thinks it’s a bad idea to make cuts to the senior food program which delivers fresh warm meals to seniors’ homes daily. Addabbo believes that a critical component of the delivery program is the interaction that comes when someone brings the food; the socialization is critical and beneficial. “The idea of freezing meals and sending them weekly should be off the table,” Addabbo said.
A few of the things to be included in the budget,
Call Addabbo’s office at 718-731-1111 regarding any of these issues. His office pledges to respect your anonymity.
Also announced at the meeting was the fact that the residents of 84th Street from Atlantic to Liberty Avenues have petitioned to have this narrow two-way street converted into a one-way street. With the blessing of Addabbo and Community Board 10, the residents were told to get signatures of at least 75 percent of the households along these streets which they obtained and have now handed over to Addabbo. Ulrich said the tight street is very dangerous. “It is almost like a kamikaze situation. Cars are always dodging each other,” he said.
