NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A big graffiti cleanup led by the NYPD was underway across New York City on Saturday after the city's effort to get rid of graffiti was suspended last summer because of the pandemic.
At Putnam and Wyckoff avenues in Bushwick, NYPD members, local community groups and businesses worked side by side with paint brushes and rollers to paint over the graffiti on the side of a Food Bazaar supermarket.
Community Affairs Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said many of the officers were working on their personal time without pay. He said it was great to have the police and community working together.
"This is how we build bridges and create trust," Maddrey said.
Lots of graffiti popped up with less economic activity around town during the pandemic. The NYPD launched the new initiative to clean it up as the city comes back, with 300 teams of officers and community members hard at work.
Saturday was the first of several cleanup days, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said.
"I'm incredibly proud of police officers, detectives, community members, explorers all across the city that started today in every precinct in New York City cleaning New York City up," Shea said at the Bushwick event.
Shea said he saw too much graffiti while driving to the cleanup on Saturday.
"I think I see what New Yorkers see, but this is really what it's about," Shea said. "This is not a problem that can't be defeated. It's something pretty simple. We've just got to get to it, put our mind to it, roll up our sleeves, work with the community and the businesses, and we'll get it back to where we need it to be."
The NYPD said it has gotten more than 6,000 complaints about damage and vandalism to public and private property with graffiti since the pandemic began.
Graffiti photos and tips can be submitted to the NYPD at the email address graffiti@nypd.org. The department also has a new online database tracking graffiti; it has tracked more than 500 reports of graffiti so far.
