Politically charged graffiti scattered around Sheepshead Bay is really leaving a mark.
Many of the messages, apparently all in the same scrawl, mostly take aim at Democrats — which is not entirely shocking in an area that voted solidly for Joe Lhota in the 2013 mayoral election.
On the overpass on Sheesphead Bay Road, near Shore Parkway — one of at least seven major sites for the graffiti — “Impeach Obama” is slanted strategically above “Traitor.” “Democrats destroy America” is painted nearby in bright blue letters.
But one local said the graffiti isn’t representative of the community.
“The messages can’t be any brighter than the people doing it,” said Tom Scalese, the former secretary of the Sheepshead Bay-Plumb Beach Civic Association.
All graffiti is a crime, according to Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay) — and he said anyone who spots someone defacing property should immediately call the police. Catching the culprit in the act is the only reliable way to secure a conviction.
“If you see someone spraying graffiti, you call 911,” said Deutsch. “It is not overkill — it is a crime in progress.”
But if locals spot graffiti after the fact, Deutsch said they should report it to 311 to have it removed.
Deutsch said he received a complaint about the graffiti in the neighborhood a few weeks ago and he reported it to the city’s Economic Development Corporation — semi-private city agency that works with local businesses — which started the Graffiti-Free NYC program in 1999. Deutsch also alerted the Midwood Development Corporation, which he said he funded for graffiti removal and cleanup projects.
But Scalese said this persistent problem is getting worse — and it is really starting to paint the neighborhood in a negative light.
“It has been all over — it has been getting worse instead of better,” said Scalese. “I don’t know how it is ever going to be conquered.”
