City property owners will soon have a faster and easier way to clean up graffiti – and it requires no effort on their part.
A bill passed by the City Council on Wednesday, September 30, which is expected to be signed into law by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will soon make it easier for the city to clean up graffiti by removing the step requiring property owners to sign a waiver to allow the city to clean graffiti from their building.
“Since 1999, when the Graffiti Free NYC program went into place, the city has cleaned over 27,000 cases of graffiti around the five boroughs,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “Simplifying the graffiti removal process today, we will make it easier for property owners and the city to remove these eye sores just as fast as they are sprayed on.”
Under the new legislation, the city will send notices to property owners who have graffiti on their property telling them that they have 35 to 50 days to clean the property or contact the city to give it permission to clean it. If the owner does not respond during that time period, it effectively grants the city permission to clean the property. Therefore, the new legislation requires the property owner to opt out of the cleanup if they don’t want it, which officials believe will allow the city to clean up the graffiti much faster.
“This amendment makes my original graffiti bill even easier to enforce and will allow for a greater number of graffiti-free spaces in our city,” said Queens City Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr., who is the Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee and author of the original “Graffiti Free” bill.
Back in July, Mayor Bloomberg and city legislators held a press conference at Manolo’s Mexican Restaurant on Greenpoint Avenue in Sunnyside – a site that was a frequent victim of graffiti vandalism – to introduce the legislation and clean up the restaurant. Manuel Morocho, who has been the owner of the restaurant for the past 10 months, said he was happy to hear that the City Council passed the legislation.
“That’s awesome,” said Morocho. “If they [the city] want to come and paint it that’s good for me so I don’t have to make phone calls or take time trying to get someone to clean it.”
