Auburndale Improvement Association President Terry Pouymari agrees. “People are tired of their neighborhoods getting run down,” Pouymari said.
People living in the Auburndale and Bayside areas can write to the civic with locations of graffiti. The address is: Auburndale Improvement Association, P.O. Box 331, Station A, Flushing, N.Y. 11358.
For the anti-graffiti group’s first undertaking, Sais found 40 locations to clean. He and about six volunteers from the Station Road Civic Association, 109th and 111th Precinct Community Councils, Community Boards 7 and 11, college students and Citizens Against Graffiti Everywhere spent a recent Sunday on the first cleanup.
CAGE members provided the paint and solvent for the undertaking that removed graffiti from light poles, fire hydrants, fire boxes, telephone poles and fences. The most noticeable difference, according to Sais, 28, was at the intersection of Station Road and Utopia Parkway.
He said the corner was the site of a half dozen, 10-foot gates covered in graffiti plus graffiti-covered street signs and telephone poles. One of the volunteers was Rhea O’Gorman, president of the Station Road Civic. “We want to get rid of the graffiti,” she said, noting her members will participate in another of Sais’ efforts on Aug. 29 on the westbound service road of the Long Island Expressway, west of Main Street.
Sais hopes to enlist the aid of civic groups in Bayside and others in Flushing, including the Mitchell-Linden Civic Association. “I also want to work with students to educate them about graffiti and tell them we won’t tolerate graffiti,” he said.
His goal is to have a graffiti-free zone, but acknowledges it will take a lot of hard work. Experts say the best way to combat graffiti is to clean it up quickly so that the taggers eventually lose interest in that location.
Henry Euler, first vice president of the Auburndale civic and a member of C.B. Board 11, volunteered at the first cleanup and said there was a real need for it. “It looks so much better,” Euler said. “Neighborhood stability and appearance are improved in areas that are litter free, graffiti free and tree lined.”
Sais recommends that people who want to get involved in the anti-graffiti program attend an Auburndale civic meeting. The group meets the third Tuesday of every month [next meeting on Sept. 15] at 7:30 p.m. at the Reception House, 167-17 Northern Blvd., in Flushing.
|
|
