Thursday, October 1, 2026
Lifelong East Meadow resident Kevin Seck drives along Stewart Avenue every day and rather than enjoying scenic views of the picturesque town he grew up in, he sees graffiti markings along the fences.
While Seck said he noticed a problem more than one year ago, he recently decided to take action and was joined by his son, Bobby. As the owner of a family business, Stewart Plaza Ltd., that sells and leases rental properties, Kevin recognized that by removing the graffiti, he could both help his business and give back to the community.
“As soon as we paint, they have a new board to graffiti on,” said Kevin. For this reason he hired a contractor to remove the marks along Stewart Avenue between Carman Avenue and Newbridge Road within 48 hours. He also wants to install high definition night vision cameras to catch and deter the vandals. However, Kevin and Bobby didn’t want to wait for the project to start and took a short break from work last week to cover some markings themselves.
While they are unsure who is responsible for the “tags,” which is what graffiti “artists” call their work, Kevin and Bobby surmise that teenagers are the cause because of the height of the markings. “The graffiti isn’t that impressive,” added Bobby.
The twosome, who are also members of the Entrepreneur’s Group, often find ways to give back to the community and said it was natural for them to take the lead, but Kevin added, “If other businesses could get along with this, it would be unbelievable.” He said it would probably cost about $100 per month to keep up with the “painting bandits.”
According to a Hempstead town law, it is the responsibility of home and business owners to remove graffiti. If the town removes it, the property owner can be billed for the expense.
Nearby homeowners, whose fences are along Stewart Avenue, were glad to hear that a local business was going to be removing the graffiti, including 27-year resident David Lloyd. “I never figured it was worth my while to sit up all night watching [for ‘taggers’],” he added. “It’s one of those things you put up with.” However, what he finds “troublesome” is the possibility that the marks might be gang-related.
Graffiti along wooden fences seems to be more common than plastic fences and Sharma would agree. While she has noticed markings in the neighborhood, her fence has not been targeted since it was replaced two years ago. She said the nuisance she faces are unaccompanied teenagers leaving garbage near her home.
Graffiti emerges inconsistently, but the Secks hope their plan will completely obliterate its presence in their community. They recently documented 26 graffiti sites along Stewart Avenue. “Hopefully it’ll work and if not, we’ll just keep painting and painting and painting,” said Kevin.
Any residents with information that will help catch or deter the “painting bandits” are urged to contact Kevin Seck at stewartplazaltd@yahoo.com.
