Council Member Moya and NYPD removing graffiti (courtesy of Moya’s office)
March 19, 2019 By Meghan Sackman
Residents and city workers will be removing graffiti Wednesday to help combat a problem that has been plaguing Jackson Heights and surrounding neighborhoods in recent times.
Workers will be cleaning graffiti off 48 buildings known to have been tagged, many by gangs.
The event, dubbed the Queens Graffiti Clean Up Day, has been organized by Council Member Francisco Moya, the 110th and 115th Police Precincts, and the Economic Development Corporation. The goal is to remove all gang-related symbols scrawled on buildings in the Jackson Heights, Corona, North Corona and Elmhurst areas.
Moya, who put the list of locations together based on his own research and constituent feedback, has been planning the cleanup since he discovered a tag–that read MS-13– plastered on his own office last month.
The tagging of Moya’s office took place shortly after a man was shot dead on Feb. 3 in a MS-13 gang related shooting at the 90th Street/ Elmhurst Ave train station.
Both incidents sparked outrage and calls to rein in all gang activity–including graffiti.
“Certainly the shooting at 90th Street has shown a spotlight on this issue,” said Moya’s Director of Communications, Ryan Sit. “We’ve been working with a few advocacy groups to nail down how to reduce gang related activity and alleviate the public’s fear.”
Four graffiti removal crews, consisting of members of the NYPD, NYC Economic Development Corporation, and Councilmember Moya’s office, will set out around 11 a.m. to start the removal process on each of their set routes.
Each crew will be equipped with power washers and state-of-the-art paint sprayers to completely reverse the defacement of the property.
All 48 buildings are expected to be graffiti-free by 4 p.m. tomorrow.
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18 Comments
We reported the same graffiti to our NCO’s at the 115 TWICE since December and it’s still there! Between 76 St & 77 St at 32 Ave. We even gave them photos of it. Still waiting….
Council member Moya is the one wearing the hat
This looks like private property. I hope that these ” graffiti removal crews, … of… NYPD, NYC Economic Development Corporation, and Councilmember Moya’s office” are off duty and volunteering.
Not saying that all of this graffiti is on Roosevelt, but I’m curious, since a lot of the activities that fund these gangs come from Roosevelt Ave, no one wanted a BID there? Arguably it would be a BID’s job to clean the streets/paint/work with local politicians and attract new vital biz that would eventually drive some of the criminal activity out. Just trying to wrap my head around the opposition to it.
From the picture it looks like a 2 man crew .
They are not using power washers or state-of-the-art paint sprayer just 2 rollers and a bucket ( without a pan ).
At the very least Francisco Moya should be in the picture.
Where’s Hiram Monserrate ? ( assault 2008 , corruption 2010 )
What about the human torpedo – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ?
such a fake picture
That was my gang the racist whiny news website poster gang
That’s great that something is being done! I hope the gangs or whoever don’t come back and destroy the buildings again.
Why can’t inmates be put to do the work ?
Put them to work , have them clean the street , have them shovel.the snow in the winter .
Put the inmates ( especially the young ones ) to work .
Captain: Don’t forget to add your job to that list.
I don’t get it
Once somebody gets free labor then everyone wants it. Just look at the business call centers set up in prisons and lack of road personnel in many places just to name a few job eliminations from free labor programs.
City worker should not be taking on this task , it should be these punks that write the graffiti
I hope that who ever is doing the cleaning are the same ones doing the vandalism.
These guys that dirty the playgrounds and damage property should all be given jail time or have to put in community service.
Have them clean the sidewalks too
By 6pm these cockroaches will have scribbled their hieroglyphics all over them again. Get rid of the gangs and you won’t have a graffiti problem. Wake up. Being politically correct isn’t helping the honest, hardworking members of these communities who are dealing with this scum.
They are not removing, they are covering the graffiti up with paint.
This is just more empty symbolism from politicians to appear as if they care about the towns they serve. Can they keep violent gang members off the street? No. Can they stop crimes like prostitution and drug sales which finance the gang’s war machine? No. These politicians do nothing to make a true impact in what affects the community. So they do pointless empty gestures like this and make sure to take plenty of pictures for their website. No one has even been assaulted by graffiti.