Join the War on Graffiti

It’s open season on graffiti.
On Saturday, April 4, to kick off the season of clean-ups, about 30 people volunteered their time to take back the neighborhood and beautify six locations within the confines of the 102nd Precinct that had been tagged by vandals.
Beginning at 9 a.m., students from the Martin De Porres School joined members of the Richmond Hill High School basketball team and the 102nd Precinct Explorers to pick up brushes and rollers donated by Kevin S. Leichter of Premier Paint Roller. They painted over graffiti at 115th Street and Jamaica Avenue, 92nd Street and Atlantic Avenue, two locations on 100th Street and Atlantic Avenue, 123rd Street and 89th Avenue, and 130th Street and 91st Avenue.
“I told the kids, ‘Take pride in your neighborhood,’” said a police source and organizer of the clean up. Most of the young volunteers, he said, come from the neighborhood and admitted that they don’t like the graffiti.
Vandalism, he also said, “is taken very seriously,” so he urged the community to be proactive.
“Call 9-1-1 when it’s graffiti in progress,” he said.
Otherwise, said the source, call 3-1-1 to report existing tags. There is a reward from the New York Police Department of up to $500 for the conviction of graffitists.
And, as far as the newly-clean locations, the 102nd Precinct will patrol to help ensure that they do not get vandalized again.
The next graffiti clean up will be in about three weeks.
To volunteer, call the precinct at 718-805-3200 or 718-805-3220 and ask for Officer Salvatore Sinnona, Explorer Advisor.