Graffiti Be Gone

in an effort to paint over more graffiti on private property, council member gale brewer introduced a bill that would allow the city to remove the graffiti without a property owner's permission.

the city removes graffiti for free with trucks that quickly blast paint over graffiti-laden security gates and walls. but graffiti-busting officers in local police precincts must first canvass the streets to get property or business owners to sign waivers.

"police officers work toward getting them, but they take forever-it takes almost six months," brewer said.

on june 23, her office organized a clean-up day focused on 55 sites throughout the upper west side. the mayor's community affairs unit provided 27 graffiti removal trucks.

the proposed legislation would expedite the process and give owners the option of choosing to keep any graffiti they consider artwork by notifying the city.

mayor michael bloomberg expressed his support for the bill.

"we're cleaning more graffiti faster than ever before, and working with the city council, we are going to introduce legislation to make it easier and more efficient to continue doing that," he said in a statement. photo by tina varghese