'Looks like a war zone': vandals painted New York with graffiti, police asks for help

New York City is full of graffiti, causing some of its neighborhoods to become "war zone-like" reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s, leading to a barrage of vandalism complaints. The edition told in more detail Dail mail.

As part of a major clean-up operation announced on March 3, New York City police officers will examine the graffiti for evidence of gang activities in the city. In 2020 alone, more than 6000 vandalism complaints were received.

The massive amount of graffiti made parts of New York City look like it was in the 70s and 80s, before CCTV cameras became a deterrent and former mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani launched initiatives to clean up the city walls.

In a sign that New York City is returning to bad old days, graffiti is popping up all over the city on the facades of shops, buildings, construction equipment, vehicles, road signs and, most prominently, a courthouse in Manhattan.

Now, as with former Mayor Bloomberg's initiative to offer people $ 500 to turn in an offender, NYPD is asking citizens to report heavily painted objects.

The clues received by the NYPD will be examined by local police officers, they will examine the graffiti for gang-made tags, and will prioritize the removal of those containing hateful and offensive messages and symbols.

However, residents and business owners complain that action started too late.

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“This has been going on for too long, and I've asked several times what can be used to remove graffiti from the glass of the establishment, but to no avail,” the restaurant owner wrote on Twitter. - Graffiti on walls and shutters can be easily removed by painting. Nostrand Avenue looks like a war zone. "

However, since there is no budget for the operation, the department is asking New Yorkers and encouraging volunteers to join the cleanup efforts by taking part in removing the graffiti.

The cleaning teams will be composed of police officers, cadets and volunteers.

Decrees and budget for cleaning city walls

In 1995, then Mayor Rudy Giuliani signed Decree 24, which formally established the Anti-Graffiti Task Force. They removed the graffiti that had been in the city for much of the 1970s and 80s.

In 2005, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg expanded the task force and created an incentive program that received up to $ 911 for people who reported graffiti vandalism to 500.

Police chief Rodney Harrison said the city takes graffiti seriously.

“We already have a working group that is overseeing the identification of people who want to pollute the city,” said Harrison. “So this is something we take seriously ... we have to juggle a lot of different tasks. We have to tackle the problem of violence as well as minor problems. ”

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the graffiti initiative has been under development for months, while acknowledging that the city has seen a spike in violent crime due to the pandemic and following the death of George Floyd last May.

“It was a difficult year not only for New York, but for the entire country. It is about moving forward, about recovery, about getting out of this crisis together, ”Shi said.

Senior police officials denied reports that the rise in violent crime should be the focus of the department's scrutiny, and said the graffiti initiative would give officers a chance to "reform."

“We talk about this often. We're talking about reform, ”said patrol chief Juanita Holmes.

However, last July, CBS New York reported that the city's budget for graffiti removal was zero, and Mayor Bill de Blasio decided not to allocate money other than cleaning government buildings.

Manhattan City Councilor Ben Kallos said at the time that “the city is zeroing its graffiti removal budget. This means that the problem with graffiti will only get worse. "

“We get a lot of graffiti complaints,” Kallos said. "We receive more complaints now than at any time since I was a councilor."

Tax revenue problems

In January 2021, an industry group reported that New York City property sales fell 46 percent in 2020 from the previous year, costing $ 1,6 billion in lost tax revenue.

A January 22 report by the New York City Real Estate Board said the city had $ 47 billion in real estate sales last year, almost half of 2019's sales of $ 86 billion.

The sharp decline in property purchases came as a result of the mass exodus of residents from the city amid fear of a pandemic, severe restrictions and a sharp increase in crime.

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New York City's real estate tax revenue was $ 1,9 billion in 2020, down 38% from 2019, and state tax revenue from real estate transactions was $ 785 million in 2020, down 32%.

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

Desperate to fill the state budget deficit, Governor Andrew Cuomo asked the new administration of US President Joe Biden for federal assistance in the amount of $ 15 billion.

How will the graffiti problem be solved

NYPD will set regular wall painting days, the first of which is scheduled for April 10th.

“Spring has come, the city is gradually recovering from COVID-19, but New York needs a little tidy, which is why we are striving to do it,” Shi said.

He added: “We think this is a great opportunity to continue building trust and relationships in New York, that's all we are trying to do. So why not combine the two things we need. We need to work closer with the community, and today we are asking for something very simple: we need your help. "

Ryan Chadwick that he needs to spend $ 5 to remove graffiti from the walls of his Gray Lady seafood restaurant on the Lower East Side.

Chadwick said his restaurant cannot reopen until the graffiti is removed and his insurance does not cover the cost.

“We have to take care of the graffiti ourselves. It costs money, ”he said. "How to open a restaurant if the name of a guy is painted on the wall in front of the visitors?"

Graffiti and pandemic

The State of New York prohibits "graffiti", which it defines as "engraving, painting, coating, applying or otherwise marking public or private property with the intent to harm such property."

The act of graffiti is classified as a Class A misdemeanor, for which a New York court can sentence a person to a maximum of one year in prison, three years probation, or a fine of up to $ 1.

The rise in graffiti can also be attributed to the huge blow the pandemic has inflicted on the city's retail industry.

The Partnership for New York City estimates that about a third of the city's 240 small businesses may never recover from a pandemic.

Last year, New York City lost more than 140 restaurant jobs due to the closure of thousands of businesses.

Across the country, the industry lost about 110 restaurants and 000 million jobs, 2,5 of which were lost in December alone.

In June, 795 residents of the city applied for unemployment benefits - this is the highest figure last year. Since then, this number has gradually decreased. In November, 300 unemployed New Yorkers applied for benefits.

Closing shops and businesses

New York City closed a record number of chain stores in 2020, including Starbucks and Dunkin 'Donuts, with Manhattan hitting the hardest as nearly 600 businesses closed their doors on the island.

According to the report "State of Chain Stores in 2020" by the Center for the Urban Future, published at the end of December, the number of chain stores in the Big Apple decreased by 13,3%, which means the closure of 1057 enterprises.

Two percent closed temporarily, while 11,3% did not indicate whether the close is permanent or temporary.

Duane Reade has closed 70 of its 317 stores, while GNC has closed 51 of its 99 stores, according to the report.

Other retail stores have received similar blows. MAC Cosmetics closed 25 of 34 stores and Victoria's Secret closed 10 of 23 stores.

Skechers has temporarily closed some of its establishments.

The report says Metro PCS continues to be the city's second largest national retailer with 334 stores, despite losing 134 stores over the past year.

This is by far the biggest annual drop in chain stores since the Urban Future Center launched its annual analysis of the city's national retail chains thirteen years ago.

While every neighborhood recorded a significant decline in chain store numbers, Manhattan had the largest decline of all.

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The Manhattan chain of stores declined 17,4%, of which 2,8% were temporarily closed. The report shows that Manhattan accounts for nearly half of all chain stores closed across the city - 520 out of 1057.

Queens had the second largest decline at 11,2%, of which 0,6% were temporarily closed.

Gyms have also been hit hard by the pandemic, which has forced such businesses to close their doors for months.

SoulCycle has closed all 21 of its locations in the city, but offers online classes and three outdoor locations.

Meanwhile, some networks, on the contrary, have opened new branches. About 40 companies, including Popeyes, have increased. The network added 10 locations.

After the pandemic, the city's economy lost 22 million jobs.

Since then, many employers have recalled some of the laid-off workers. However, the recovery has slowed down.

Moody's Analytics does not predict that the US economy will recover to pre-pandemic employment levels by the end of 2023.

In the worst-hit sectors - hotels and retail, for example - changing economic habits mean employers may never need as many workers as they did before the pandemic.

Among the many life-changing impacts of 2020, the coronavirus has changed the economic activities of people and businesses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on businesses, including shops, restaurants and other retail outlets in New York City.

New York City's retail sector numbered 32 businesses, employing 600 people in 2019.

These businesses paid $ 16 billion in total wages across the city's five boroughs, contributing $ 55 billion in taxable sales to the city's economy.

Nearly half of all retail jobs in 2019 were in Manhattan. In these jobs, the average wage was $ 59, higher than the city average of $ 400.

The city's retail sector employed 214 residents.

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of these businesses handled food and beverages; the fifth part - clothing and clothing accessories; 13 percent accounted for health and personal hygiene; another 13 percent was for general goods; 5 percent - electronics and household appliances; and another 5 percent were off-store retailers.

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When New York was blocked by the spread of the coronavirus last spring, all non-essential retail outlets were closed.

In February last year, New York City's retail industry employed 338 people, slightly less than in February 000.

When Cuomo's statewide isolation order went into effect on March 22, 2020, the number of jobs fell to 245.

Workers deemed “necessary”, including grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, etc., were allowed to continue working.

One study, jointly conducted by Harvard University and Brown University, which tracked the economic recovery, found that the number of small businesses opened in New York State fell by 36,6%.

There were approximately 2020 million small businesses in the state in 2,2. Small business refers to a firm with fewer than 500 employees.

This means the pandemic has forced 800 businesses across the state to temporarily or permanently close their doors.