Tag! Hooligans graffiti Ozone Park

BY STEPHEN J. BRONNER

Thursday, July 3, 2008 1:24 PM EDT

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Their names are scribbled, other times they're in large balloon letters. Sometimes there are images, visions from the "artist."

At about every block along Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, their names are there, courtesy of a marker or a can of spray paint. Whatever the medium, graffiti has been a constant concern and nuisance to many Queens residents.

Graffiti has been an issue in the City of New York since the 1970s, when people would scribble their names on subway cars, platforms and other surfaces. About $30,000 to $50,000 of the city budget has been dedicated to cleaning graffiti in Queens in recent fiscal years, according to Councilmember Joseph Addabbo. However, the process of cleaning the wall writing could take at least a few months, and the mess left there causes urban decay, residents say.

In Queens South, from 2006 to 2007, graffiti complaints to 3-1-1 increased 80 percent, to 864, and there were 259 arrests, a 17 percent increase, according to New York Police Department statistics. Queens North saw an 84 percent rise in complaints, from 904 to 1,662, and arrests climbed 11 percent, from 615 to 680.

"Graffiti vandalism is a crime punishable by a jail term, monetary fine and/or community service," according to the police. "Any person caught defacing property without the express permission of the owner will be arrested. Once considered a small problem caused by a handful of teenagers, graffiti has erupted into a nationwide epidemic costing billions of dollars each year," the police said.

The names, or "tags," can be random, but there are many repeat offenders. A name often seen on the walls, store grates, garage doors and other surfaces in Ozone Park and surrounding neighborhoods is "SUM."

"He's everywhere," said Eric Ulrich, an Ozone Park District Leader and member of several civic groups. "He's like Ozone Park's most wanted. He's targeted and hit 50 sites in Ozone Park alone, and when [SUM] is apprehended, he will be arrested for each charge." Ulrich estimates the property damage at the hands of SUM to be at least $10,000.

The artist who tags as SUM (sometimes as "SUM Z") has been active for several months, getting his name out and escaping arrest.

"He's a popular person and targeted by the 106th precinct," Addabbo said. "They are doing their best to catch him."

But SUM has proved to be elusive. "He's pretty quick, he's pretty slick," said Officer John McCoy of the 102nd Precinct, the precinct's leading graffiti officer, at the Richmond Hill Block Association's June 25th meeting. The officer said SUM has hit around 160 locations. "He destroys property."

McCoy was close to apprehending SUM, he said, but the delinquent managed to escape by switching busses. The officer promised SUM would eventually be caught and join six artists who were recently arrested in Richmond Hill for graffiti. But SUM is not the only artist residents have to worry about.

"Guys are using two or three tag names," McCoy said. "They hit a location once they see a blank wall."

Residents and business owners are the victims of graffiti. On 88th Street between 102nd Road and 103rd Avenue, Abdul Siddituie's white double door garage has been tagged by so many artists that white space is hard to come by. Graffiti writers also tagged his neighbor's garage across the street.

Residents of Ozone Park passing by the garage were dismayed at the sight.

"This neighborhood was one of the best, now it's not," said James Petrosino, who has lived in Ozone Park for 30 years. "Graffiti makes everything look so nasty and it brings the neighborhood down to the point where it's disgusting." Petrosino, a sanitation worker, said that a lack of street cleaning on both sides of the street causes the area to stay dirty, which encourages delinquents to tag the walls.

"This is not art," said John H., who would not give his last name because he's scared of gangs. "If it were a nice piece on a storefront, that's one thing, but I don't see art" in the tags, he said. "It brings down the neighborhood."

Addabbo said the wall writing is a universal aggravation. "Graffiti bothers everyone," he said. "It is an absolute horror."

Residents with graffiti on their property should report it to 3-1-1, their local community board or civic group. Also, "Property owners or authorized representatives may submit a waiver to the City to allow authorized personnel to clean graffiti from first or second-story facades," according to the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit.

There are 25 graffiti removal waivers in the 102nd Precinct and 13 in the 106th Precinct, according to the Community Affairs Unit web site. The earliest waiver date was submitted in September of 2007. It could take up to a year to process a graffiti removal request.

While removing graffiti is a step forward, prevention measures must be taken, Addabbo said. "Graffiti is one of those crimes that's hard to enforce and prosecute. The City Council has been trying to up the punishment. We need to increase the penalty to where the person would not want to do it again."

Addabbo hopes that will be the case with SUM. "Maybe 30 years from now SUM Z will realize how stupid his actions were and how damaging they were to the community," he said.

Petrosino doesn't even notice SUM's tag. "Sometimes I would pay attention," he said. But when he does glance at the walls, "I look at it and I see a mess."

THE COURIER/Photos by Stephen J. Bronner
From 2006 to 2007, graffiti complaints to 3-1-1 in Queens South increased 80 percent, to 864, and there were 259 arrests, a 17 percent increase, according to New York Police Department statistics.