by Anton K. Nilsson 

Graffiti tags stained on house walls, storefronts, and on public property are a common sight in New York, and Norwood is no exception. A blue plywood fence on a quiet, residential stretch of Perry Avenue served as a perfect example of graffiti at its worst.

Last week, the fence, which cordons off an empty lot on 3063-3065 Perry Ave., was covered in black graffiti tags that appeared to have been made with cheap spray paint. Among the tags were words like “Crack,” “Dyckman Up,” “Wil Money,” and “300 Block.”

A neighbor who went by Victor, living across the street from the empty lot, told the Norwood News that the graffiti had been on the wall for at least three months. Although the wall is regularly repainted, Victor said, the graffiti keeps coming back.

“You get used to it. It used to be a lot worse around here. I’ve lived here for 13 years,” Victor said. “This graffiti is garbage. But at least it’s not as much as it used to be.”

“Garbage” is also the word that NYPD Officer John Repetti used to describe these kinds of tags. Officer Repetti is the Graffiti Coordinator of the NYPD’s 52^nd Precinct and spearheads the police department’s effort to keep neighborhood walls free from unsightly graffiti.

“There is a difference between garbage and art,” Repetti said. He compared graffiti scribble seen on Perry Ave. with the colorful, large murals that emblazon many walls and storefronts in Norwood, and which often pay homage to locals who’ve passed away.  “We try to clean up the neighborhood. But I would never take down a mural.”

Repetti, in fact, encourages it. He started a program where local artists can submit their drawings for the chance to paint a fully legal mural—if they supply the paint themselves. So far, there have been no takers.

Part of the five-two’s effort to curb graffiti vandalism involves identifying tags and entering them into a database managed by the Citywide Vandals Task Force, an NYPD branch that monitors and works to prevent vandalism in all five boroughs. The task force has filed thousands of tags with at least forty people linked to vandalism seen within the 52^nd Precinct’s borders, Repetti noted.

Businesses Play Part
Norwood businesses have also stepped up to combat graffiti. At Jerry’s Hardware on the corner of Perry Avenue and East 204^th Street, spray cans are locked in a steel cage. A notice informs customers that they have to produce an ID showing they are over 21 before being allowed to buy spray cans.

“We always check ID,” said Juan Enamorado, a store attendant. Nevertheless, he believes that it is young people under 21 who paint the illegal graffiti in the neighborhood.

“They probably get someone who is over 21 to buy [spray cans] for them. They’re kids, but they are old enough to realize what they are doing,” Enamorado said.

According to Enamorado the hardware store hands out free paint to local citizens who want to paint over ugly graffiti—a “hobby” of some, he said. Like Repetti, Enamorado believes that if there were more murals on the block, the number of illegal graffiti tags would decrease.

Fresh Once Again
As for the plywood wall on Perry Ave., Repetti said, there is not much the city can do. Because it is a removable structure, the Department of Sanitation has no obligation to clean it up. The owners of the lot may sanitize it, Repetti said, but only “if they want to.”

The Norwood News reached out to Joseph Quintessenza, the owner of the Perry Avenue lot, explaining the complaints over the plywood wall’s appearance. He tries to keep the wall clean, Quintessenza said, but it is an “impossible task.” Still, last week Quintessenza re-touched the wall, now his seventh time doing so in three years, spending $100 each time.

“I want it to look pretty, for the neighborhood’s sake,” Quintessenza said. “I want to be considerate.”

Note: If you are interested in painting a mural in Norwood, contact Officer John Repetti of the 52^nd Precinct at (718) 220 5824.