Garbage found near Elmhurst Park on 57th Avenue in Maspeth. Photos courtesy of Richie Polgar
Graffiti and garbage were found at different locations in the Maspeth/Elmhurst areas and local officials are teaming up with community members to get them cleaned.
According to photos sent to The Forum by Maspeth resident Richie Polgar, the graffiti was found on a pedestrian bridge on 85th Street and 55th Avenue in Elmhurst but boarders both Maspeth and Middle Village. The dumped garbage was found across the street from Elmhurst Park on 57th avenue near 74 Street in Maspeth.
For the graffiti, Roe Daraio, president of the civic group Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together (COMET), and Polgar both said that there’s been a problem of kids hanging out on or near that bridge, which overlooks the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tracks. Daraio said that the kids are probably from one of the three nearby neighborhoods and the 110 Precinct, whose patrol area includes the bridge, has done a good job of getting the kids out of there when police find them there.
An anti-police message was written on the stairs leading up to the bridge and signed by someone named “Joey D.”
“That tells you that the police have been there before,” said Daraio, talking about kids getting kicked out of the bridge area.
A community affairs officer from the 110 precinct said that they are working with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office to figure out who exactly is responsible for cleanup of the bridge. The officer said that normally if graffiti is found on someone’s property, they would clean it up along with local community who would help them out in cleaning up the graffiti.
The garbage is also part of an ongoing problem, Daraio said, and that will also be cleaned up in the near future.
Councilwoman Karen Kozlowitz’s (D-Forest Hills, Elmhurst) office is teaming up with the office of the Young Governors, a local civic group, to clean up the area near Elmhurst Park sometime in November.
Kozlowitz’s office said that a date for the cleanup hasn’t been set yet as they are still in the midst of putting the cleanup together.
By Luis Gronda
