Two weeks ago, The Courier Sun broke a story about how the Richmond Hill North Post Office had been ruined by graffiti vandals. The tip came from a community member who said she was sickened every time she passed her post office and the memories of the beautiful mural that once adorned the side of the corner property.
The Courier Sun took up that letter to heart, and we made the calls to the city and then to the federal authorities including the Postmaster who had jurisdiction over the property on March 24. The site was cleaned up the next day.
Borough President Helen Marshall read our accounts of the situation and drafted a strong letter to Postmaster Jim Burns of the Jamaica Main Post Office. She posted her letter on Wednesday, April 1. We received a copy of her letter and immediately called her office to inform her staff that the problem was gone.
You can do the same thing that too. Identify the owner of the property, and report the graffiti to the local police precinct or to 3-1-1.
Furthermore, if you observe a vandal in the act of spray-painting a property, fence, sidewalk, building, sign or truck, call 9-1-1 immediately, and report it as a crime in progress and police will come!
The authorities can stop the vandals with fines and even jail time if they are caught in the act. The NYPD has reinvigorated its reward program funded by the Police Foundation. Rewards of up to $500 will be awarded to anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals.
Graffiti Free NYC is a citywide effort to combat graffiti in our communities. Property owners may submit a waiver to the city to allow authorized personnel to clean graffiti from first- or second-story facades; you may call 3-1-1 for the waiver forms or you may go to https://www.nyc.gov/html/cau/html/qol/anti_graffiti.shtml to download and fill them out online.
Let us all spring into action this year and join clean up crews through your community boards, churches and precincts. Get active and clean up Queens.
