By Gus Saltonstall
There are more than 2,300 pieces of graffiti on a stretch of the Upper West Side, according to a recent survey from a local elected official who called it a “growing problem” in the neighborhood.
Councilmember Gale Brewer’s team of staff and interns conducted a survey this summer from July 1 to July 12, to count the pieces of graffiti along the avenues south to north from West 54th to 96th streets, from Riverside Drive to Central Park West, and also on every side street from west to east along the major cross streets, including 57th, 72nd, 79th, 86th, and 96th streets.
Brewer’s office found pieces of graffiti, which includes stickers and posters, on 2,434 structures throughout the stretch of Upper West Side blocks. Nearly every street surveyed in the neighborhood had at least one piece of graffiti.
The number is way up from the 370 pieces of graffiti Brewer’s office found within a similar stretch of blocks last summer. The elected official said the neighborhood graffiti count was more comprehensive this year, as they spent more days conducting the survey and also deployed more people.
Brewer Calls for Removal
“I echo the concerns of my constituents over the growing problem of graffiti in my district and throughout the city, and request that these areas be cleaned up as soon as possible,” Brewer wrote in letters to multiple city agencies this summer, including the Departments of Sanitation, Parks, Transportation, and the Fire Department. “Graffiti makes the neighborhood appear unsafe and neglected, can affect property values, and can deter customers from shopping at businesses that have been serving our community for years,” she stated.
The majority of the Upper West Side graffiti was found on residential and commercial buildings, sidewalks, street signs, and mailboxes.
“It’s very frustrating,” Brewer added to West Side Rag. “If you don’t do the survey, I don’t know if the agencies do the cleanings. We do the survey, because we want to help with the cleanliness of the neighborhood.”
Here is a breakdown of some of the findings.
- 70 percent of the graffiti was found on Department of Transportation property
- 18 percent on Department of Sanitation property
- 5.5 percent on FDNY property
- 5.3 percent of United States Postal Service property
In terms of the major intersections, where surveyors also walked the streets west to east, as opposed to just north to south along the avenues, here’s what they found.
- West 72nd Street intersection: 150 pieces of graffiti
- West 79th Street intersection: 119 pieces of graffiti
- West 86th Street intersection: 134 pieces of graffiti
- West 96th Street intersection: 163 pieces of graffiti
Multiple city agencies and organizations play different roles in graffiti removal, but the Department of Sanitation took on the task of overseeing graffiti cleanup across the five boroughs from New York City’s Economic Development Corporation in April of 2023.
In recent weeks, the Department of Sanitation responded to Brewer’s letter by sending members of the agency to confirm the findings of the survey, Brewer told the Rag. Once the sites are confirmed, DSNY staff members will return to the locations to clean the graffiti.
You can check out the full list of graffiti locations found on the Upper West Side from West 54th to 96th streets — HERE.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here.
No repercussions. What do people expect?
Who on earth is surprised that the changes on top (leadership, culture, laws) would have any other effect?
Graffiti makes the city feel culturally relevant, and it’s laughable that it has any effect on property values.
Actual research says quite the opposite: From Arizona State University’s Center for Problem- Oriented Policing:
For many people, graffiti’s presence suggests the government’s failure to protect citizens and control lawbreakers. There are huge public costs associated with graffiti: an estimated $12 billion a year is spent cleaning up graffiti in the United States. Graffiti contributes to lost revenue associated with reduced ridership on transit systems, reduced retail sales and DECLINES IN PROPERTY VALUE. In addition, graffiti generates the perception of blight and heightens fear of gang activity.
Oh please. Especially the swastikas I saw on Broadway and immediately reported to our local assemblyperson…not the kind of cultural relevance we want, thanks.
And I hope WSR won’t block this comment since others taking initiative to report these acts of hate (“graffiti”) might even help to prevent some of them.
I’m sure the business owners who worked hard to make their shops look beautiful love when some tags swirly letters all over it.
Culturally relevant? Are you for real?
Why doesn’t Gale Brewer also call for more arrests and tougher penalties for the criminals who do this?
She can ask the city clean it as much as she wants. But the graffiti will always come back if we don’t punish the people who actually commit the act.
Plenty of people do graffiti, and once upon a time, NYC was graffiti central. It’s really laughable that people are so scared of it.
No one is “scared” of it. We don’t like having our neighborhood defaced, and I for one dislike the arrogance that lies behind the vandal’s decision that his or her “art” is more important to be seen than the building or storefront the vandal has chosen to deface.
Or aren’t we entitled to live in a clean neighborhood?
There is no punishment for minor crimes. That is why it will continue. People need to be charged.
With all the cameras, catch the offenders, and require them to complete community service by scrubbing it off. It’s not hard. But, it’s easier to fault society for not providing them with more free services to keep them otherwise entertained. I’m fine making the gloves, buckets, and cleaner free.
So many of the neighborhood problems are due to lack of responsibility and accountability towards those who commit these petty crimes. I’m going to guess that while they are leaving their marks and tags, they are catchable. And if it means that Joe from around the block will be fined for hanging their illegal advertising signs to support their local moving business, or Jenny will get in trouble because her tutoring services poster is also considered wrong, then let’s not exclude them either. We need laws to matter again.
No, catch the offenders, and lock them up. You can’t spray paint a school if you’re in prison.
Just waiting on the person who tried to equate our Banksy with gang graffiti. Looking forward to those justifications for why we shouldn’t punish anyone. It “could be” the next Basquiat.
Tagging like this is not art, it’s an ugly act of defacement by bored, idle people who contribute nothing. It’s also sometimes a mark of gang activity – they’re testing the water to see what they can get away with before they escalate. Don’t glamorize it.
Have you noticed how this tagging looks exactly the same as it did in the 70s? No creative development at all. It’s only “culturally relevant” as further evidence of the decay of our city.
This new trend of companies using graffiti to advertise on our sidewalks needs to stop. What are the consequences to companies and their marketing agencies who are recommending these tactics of defacing public sidewalks?
The key to this usually seems to be 1. stop having blank walls – they say “write on me”. 2. Clean of or cover tagging immediately. Rubbing alcohol takes off most marker pen.
Using cameras is a great idea. Now they are everywhere. And if the camera is on a home or private business those people should provide the footage of the perpetrators to authorities. Also they can post it on social media or pass I on to the WSR to post on here.
Use the migrants to clean up the graffiti. This will allow them to earn all the free stuff they are getting. With the high increase of graffiti recently, is it likely that migrants are responsible for much of it? It would be good for them to have something to do, wouldn’t it? Perhaps it would help them have a sense of community.
Migrants? Haven’t seen any graffiti in Spanish. Where would they get extra money to buy paint cans? Next, somebody will blame the late subways on them too.
What about the ubiquitous Hostage stickers—lately, they’ve been plastic-wrapped to make them even more difficult to remove? Political speech, yes, so I guess they get a free pass?
From what I can see, most of the graffiti is on commercial property that is literally abandoned, Metro 99, and long stretches along Broadway. This is what happens with divestment from business. Corporate landlords would rather see the property vacant than reduce rent. But, let’s blame kids doing graffiti. And make no mistake about it those are neighborhood kids, no gang activity like I see folks attributing graffiti to. – DV
“And make no mistake about it those are neighborhood kids, no gang activity like I see folks attributing graffiti to. ”
And you know this how, exactly?
And no “neighborhood kids” are involved with gangs? You know that how, exactly??
The HOSTAGE fliers everywhere have got to go. On Columbus, there are menacing fliers threatening to go after an anti-semite who takes them down. Really…these do not belong here. They also give permission for more fliers and grafitti.
The bright spot is 98.8% of graffiti is on government property, not private property. Looking at the photos it looks like it’s on a lot of fire hydrants / lamp posts / etc. Not ideal, but they seem to be small and not on private property. Still an issue that needs to be reduced. Time to start adding penalties to people who do it. Whatever the fine is, double it. If it’s not being enforced, enforce it.