A group effort to erase graffiti

Standing behind Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves were community leaders Rich Bivone and Helen Meittinis left, Acting County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter, Town of Hempstead Councilman Gary Hudes, Town Supervisor Kate Murray and County Executive Ed Mangano.

Courtesy of Nassau County

These flyers will be disseminated throughout the community.

Courtesy of Nassau County

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Local government, police and community leaders joined together in East Meadow on May 15 to announce a joint partnership to combat graffiti vandalism.

Graffiti has become a major problem in East Meadow in recent months, culminating earlier this year when spray-painted markings began appearing on fences, buildings, utility boxes, mailboxes and street signs along major community roadways.

Two East Meadow teenagers were arrested on Jan. 17 after they were spotted by a Nassau County Police Department K-9 Unit officer spray-painting a building in the East Meadow Plaza shopping center on Hempstead Turnpike. They face felony criminal mischief charges, which carry a sentence of one to four years in prison. 

But officials said the problem still has not fully subsided. At the press conference, located at the intersection of Stuyvesant and Park avenues, were Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, County Legislature Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves, Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Councilman Gary Hudes, NCPD Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter and community leaders Helen Meittinis and Richard Bivone.

Officials said anyone who reports information on graffiti vandals to the Nassau County Crime Stoppers tip line that leads to an arrest may receive up to a $5,000 reward.

Increased vigilance is especially important, Gonsalves said, as schools are about to close for the summer. But she noted that she has received a commitment from the NCPD of increased patrols in highly vandalized communities like East Meadow. Soliciting the community’s help, she said, will be an even further help. “There’s definitely going to be a strong push to get people to be the eyes and ears of the police department,” said Gonsalves.

There will also be a public service campaign, officials said, that includes informational flyers distributed to local schools and community organizations. “Crime Stoppers provides us with an invaluable tool to stop graffiti and punish those responsible for threatening our safety and quality of life,” said Hudes. “Getting the message out to our schools and neighbors that you can safely report vandals in your community will help lead to more arrests and discourage future perpetrators.”