Photo: GoFundMe (Michael Perlman)
Oct. 30, 2020 Staff Report
A local group that formed last month to combat an uptick in graffiti is looking for financial help in order to buy paint and power-washers to clean up the neighborhood.
The volunteers, who established the Forest Hills and Rego Park Graffiti Cleanup Initiative, launched a GoFundMe earlier this month with the goal of raising $5,000 to cover the cost of supplies to rid the area of graffiti.
The group, co-founded by community advocates Michael Perlman and Michael Conigliaro, was formed in response to city budget cuts and increased graffiti.
The organizers say that they have seen more graffiti since the mayor decided to suspend the $3 million Graffiti-Free NYC program in March. The program allowed residents and business owners to make a 311 complaint about graffiti–and the city would arrange for its free removal.
“Graffiti is an urban blight that impacts our community’s quality of life by compromising its character, cleanliness, and property values, as well as contributes to additional graffiti if not cleaned as soon as possible,” Perlman wrote on the GoFundMe page.
The group has raised a little of $1,000 to date.
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3 Comments
The murals under the LIRR bridges on Ascan Ave have been ruined by vandals. Austin St and Metropolitan Ave have been defaced and our elected officials have done nothing to mitigate or eradicate these crimes. Well done. Time to vote Republican and return to addressing quality of life crimes along with stop and frisk.
@SaraRoss Instead of misdirecting your anger at the people who did not do anything wrong; you should say get the money from the city and this horrific Mayor. He seems to lose a billion here and a billion there and then blames it on the pandemic meanwhile our city is falling apart.
Instead of Go Fund Me – get the money from who had the money to demolish beautiful homes and build those ugly (w)hore houses! Not to mention those who own businesses on Queens Blvd. that take up the space of 4 or more previous small businesses.