Return of the taggers: New York is blighted with graffiti leaving areas 'looking like war zones' in echo of the 1980s as NYPD begins massive clean-up following 6,000 complaints

 New York City has been blighted by graffiti leaving some areas of the Big Apple 'looking like war zones' reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s, leading to a barrage of vandalism complaints.

As part of a major clean-up operation announced on Wednesday, NYPD officers will examine graffiti tags for clues about gang activity in the city after the department said it had received over 6,000 complaints in 2020 alone. 

The explosion of graffiti has left parts of New York City looking like it did in the 70s and 80s, before CCTV cameras acted as a deterrent and clean-up initiatives were implemented by mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudi Giuliani.


In a sign that the Big Apple is sliding back to the bad old days, graffiti has been appearing all over the city on storefonts, building exteriors, construction equipment, vehicles, road signs and most visibly on the surrogates court and David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building near City Hall, painted by City Hall protesters.

Now, much like former mayor Bloomberg's initiative which offered people $500 to snitch on taggers, the NYPD wants citizens to report heavily-tagged properties in their neighborhoods.

The tips received by the NYPD will be investigated by local precincts and community leaders who will examine the graffiti for tags made by gangs and prioritize removing those with hateful and offensive messages and symbols.

However, residents and business owners have complained that the initiative comes too little, too late.

'This has been going on too long and I've asked on several occasions what can I use to remove the graffiti from the glass of an establishment in Crown Heights to no avail,' @Dewarrestaurant tweeted after the NYPD's statement.

'The graffiti on the walls and shutters are easy to remove by painting. Nostrand Ave looks like a war zone.' 

However, since there is not budget for the operation, the department has pleaded with New Yorkers, calling for volunteers to join the clean-up effort by taking part in clean-up days.


New York City has been blighted by graffiti leaving some areas of the Big Apple 'looking like war zones' reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s, leading to a barrage of vandalism complaints.. Pictured: Trash sits underneath the stairs of a building covered in graffiti near Broadway and White Street in the ritzy Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan

New York City has been blighted by graffiti leaving some areas of the Big Apple 'looking like war zones' reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s, leading to a barrage of vandalism complaints.. Pictured: Trash sits underneath the stairs of a building covered in graffiti near Broadway and White Street in the ritzy Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan

Mike's Diner, a 24-hour restaurant on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn has been overrun with graffiti as the city launches an initiative to clean up the worsening problem. NYPD officers will examine graffiti tags for clues about gang activity in the city after the department said it had received over 6,000 complaints in 2020 alone

Mike's Diner, a 24-hour restaurant on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn has been overrun with graffiti as the city launches an initiative to clean up the worsening problem. NYPD officers will examine graffiti tags for clues about gang activity in the city after the department said it had received over 6,000 complaints in 2020 alone

BEFORE: Mikes Diner in Brooklyn, pictured on Google Street view before it was covered in graffiti. Much like former mayor Bloomberg's initiative - which offered people $500 to snitch on taggers - the NYPD wants citizens to report vandalism

BEFORE: Mikes Diner in Brooklyn, pictured on Google Street view before it was covered in graffiti. Much like former mayor Bloomberg's initiative - which offered people $500 to snitch on taggers - the NYPD wants citizens to report vandalism

Two store fronts available for rent in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan are pictured covered in graffiti on Wednesday

Two store fronts available for rent in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan are pictured covered in graffiti on Wednesday

A former Pret a Manger location at the corner of West 27th and 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan is covered in graffiti. The tips received by the NYPD will be investigated by local precincts and community leaders who will examine the graffiti for tags made by gangs and prioritize removing those with hateful and offensive messages and symbols

A former Pret a Manger location at the corner of West 27th and 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan is covered in graffiti. The tips received by the NYPD will be investigated by local precincts and community leaders who will examine the graffiti for tags made by gangs and prioritize removing those with hateful and offensive messages and symbols

BEFORE: The Pret on the corner of West 27th and 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, before it was covered in graffiti

BEFORE: The Pret on the corner of West 27th and 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, before it was covered in graffiti 

Multiple officials hailed the initiative to remove graffiti citywide as a means to building relationships and trust with the community

Multiple officials hailed the initiative to remove graffiti citywide as a means to building relationships and trust with the community 

Various places around New York City are overrun with Graffiti as the city launches an inititative to clean up the worsening problem... on March 3 2021Pictured : Tribeca ..Broadway and White Street

Graffiti covers the outside of a building near Broadway and White Street in the ritzy Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan 

The clean up days will comprise of teams made up of auxiliary police officers, cadets and the young members of the NYPD's Law Enforcement Explorers Program and community volunteers.

In 1995, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani signed the Mayoral Executive Order No. 24 - which formally established the Mayor's Anti-Graffiti Task Force to clean up graffiti which decorated the city through much of the 1970s and 80s.

In 2005, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg expanded the task force and created the graffiti rewards program which awarded up to $500 to people who reported graffiti vandalism in progress through 911. 


Chief of Department Rodney Harrison, who is beginning in his new role after the departure of Terence Monahan, said the city takes graffiti 'seriously,' the New York Post reported. 

'We do have a vandals task force team already in place … making sure that they're out there engaging individuals that choose to dirty up the city,' Harrison said, according to the Post.

'So it's something that we take seriously … we have to juggle a lot of different balls, one of them being violence, but we also have to address minor things.'  

Graffiti covers a closed barbershop and a sign store in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn on Wednesday

Graffiti covers a closed barbershop and a sign store in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn on Wednesday 

BEFORE: The shop fronts in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, before the shutters were covered in graffiti

BEFORE: The shop fronts in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, before the shutters were covered in graffiti 

Graffiti covers a truck parked at the corner of Broadway and 28th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday amid a worsening problem

Graffiti covers a truck parked at the corner of Broadway and 28th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday amid a worsening problem

Graffiti covers a truck parked at the corner of Broadway and 28th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday amid a worsening problem

Graffiti covers a truck parked at the corner of Broadway and 28th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday amid a worsening problem

Residents walk past shuttered businesses covered in graffiti at the corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday

Residents walk past shuttered businesses covered in graffiti at the corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday

BEFORE: The corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street in Manhattan, before it was covered in graffiti

BEFORE: The corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street in Manhattan, before it was covered in graffiti

Commissioner Shea said that the graffiti initiative has been in the works for months while acknowledging that the city has seen a surge in violent crime through the pandemic and in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd last May.

'It's been a tough year, not just for New York City but across this whole country. This is about moving forward, it's about the recovery, it's about coming out together and cleaning up. That's the big statement we want to make,' Shea said.

According to the New York Daily News, the top cops refuted that the rise in violent crime should of greater focus for the department and argued that the graffiti initiative will give officers a chance to 'reform and reinvent.'

'We often speak about that. We speak about reform and re-invention,' Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes said, according to the Daily News. 

A dad pushes his daughter on a bicycle in front of a storefront covered in graffiti at the corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street

A dad pushes his daughter on a bicycle in front of a storefront covered in graffiti at the corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street

Residents walk past shuttered businesses covered in graffiti at the corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street in Manhattan

Residents walk past shuttered businesses covered in graffiti at the corner of 7th Avenue and 26th Street in Manhattan

Graffiti covers a wall at the corner of Varick Street and Canal Street in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan on Wednesday

Graffiti covers a wall at the corner of Varick Street and Canal Street in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan on Wednesday

Graffiti covers the face of a building underneath scaffolding at the corner of 7th Avenue and 25th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday

Graffiti covers the face of a building underneath scaffolding at the corner of 7th Avenue and 25th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday

'Gothem' graffiti covers the outside of a building in the ritzy Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan on Wednesday

'Gothem' graffiti covers the outside of a building in the ritzy Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan on Wednesday

However, it was reported in July last year by CBS New York that the city's budget for graffiti removal was zero, with Mayor Bill de Blasio deciding not to allocate money to fix it, other than for cleaning government buildings.

Manhattan City Councilman Ben Kallo said at the time that 'the city has zeroed out the budget for graffiti removal city-wide. This is a problem, and it means graffiti is only going to get worse.'

'We've been getting a lot of complaints about graffiti,' Kallos said. 'We're seeing more graffiti complaints now than ever before since I've been a council member.'

In January 2021, it was reported by an industry group that property sales in New York City had plunged 46 percent in 2020 from the prior year's level, costing $1.6 billion in lost city and state tax revenue.

The report January 22 from the Real Estate Board of New York said that property sales in the city totaled $47 billion last year, down nearly half from the 2019 sales volume of $86 billion.

The steep decline in real estate transactions came as residents fled the city in a mass exodus amid pandemic fears, punishing lockdowns and soaring crime

New York City tax revenue from real estate transactions totaled $1.9 billion in 2020, representing a 38 percent decline from 2019, while state tax revenue from such transactions totaled $785 million in 2020, a 32 percent drop. 

The real estate industry generates more than half of New York City's total annual tax revenue, while personal income tax accounts for just one-fifth of tax receipts.

Desperate to plug the state budget gap, Governor Andrew Cuomo demanded a $15 billion federal bailout from President Joe Biden's new administration.


NYPD officials announced a new initiative on Wednesday, asking citizens to report and help clean up neighborhood graffiti

NYPD officials announced a new initiative on Wednesday, asking citizens to report and help clean up neighborhood graffiti

Officials hold up a T-shirt designed for the citywide initiative to clean up graffiti, which is often related to drug and gang violence

Officials hold up a T-shirt designed for the citywide initiative to clean up graffiti, which is often related to drug and gang violence

Participants in the Law Enforcement Explorers program will participate in the citywide graffiti cleanup. The Explorers program provides young men and women ages 14 to 20 an introduction to a career in criminal justice

Participants in the Law Enforcement Explorers program will participate in the citywide graffiti cleanup. The Explorers program provides young men and women ages 14 to 20 an introduction to a career in criminal justice

The NYPD will schedule regular 'paint-in' days, with the first on the books for April 10, to clean up the graffiti with paint cans and rollers donated by local businesses.

'As I'm driving over here today, I think it's apparent to everyone why we're out here when we look around. It's spring, we're coming out of COVID, but New York City needs a little sprucing up today, so that's what we aim to do,' Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said.

He added: 'We think it's a great opportunity to continue to build trust and relationships in New York City, it's everything we are trying to do. So why not combine two things that we need. We need to work closer with the community … and we're asking today for something really simple: we need your help.' 

The press conference for the NYPD's graffiti cleanup initiative happened outside MOSCOT, which is pictured covered in graffiti

The press conference for the NYPD's graffiti cleanup initiative happened outside MOSCOT, which is pictured covered in graffiti

BEFORE: Moscot, outside which the NYPD held their Wednesday press conference, before it was covered in Grafiti

BEFORE: Moscot, outside which the NYPD held their Wednesday press conference, before it was covered in Grafiti

Chief Rodney Harrison speaks during a press conference with Police Commissioner Dermot Shea about the effort to combat graffiti

Chief Rodney Harrison speaks during a press conference with Police Commissioner Dermot Shea about the effort to combat graffiti

Ryan Chadwick told the Daily News that he has to spend $5,000 to remove tags on his Lower East Side seafood restaurant Grey Lady.

Chadwick said his restaurant can't reopen until the graffiti is cleaned up and his insurance company isn't helping. 

'We have to take care of the graffiti ourselves. It costs money,' he said. Speaking to CBS New York, Chadwick said: 'How do we open when our view is some guy's name spray painted on my wall?'

New York State prohibits the act of 'making graffiti', which it defines as 'the etching, painting, covering, drawing upon or otherwise placing of a mark upon public or private property with intent to damage such property.'

The act of making graffiti is classified as a class A misdemeanor, for which a New York court can sentence an individual to a maximum of one year in jail or three years probation, or a fine of up to $1,000.

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