Huntington Station plan targets graffiti

A black scrawl on the side of an automotive shop in Huntington Station was the first to go. Next up was a spray-painted obscenity on a wooden fence.

Tuesday marked the start of a pilot program aimed at eradicating graffiti in the Huntington Station Business Improvement District. Town Councilwoman Susan Berland announced the $1,600 program, which is being paid for with BID funds, as she and other officials stood next to one of the targeted pieces of graffiti on the side of Redline Collision on Depot Road.

Graffiti "creates blight and it can have a serious negative impact on the morale of a community," Berland said. "We're going to start a procedure . . . to stop graffiti and to end it in Huntington Station once and for all."

The BID contracted with CitySolve of Brooklyn to remove graffiti using spray paint and power washers, and return the surface to its original color.

CitySolve will remove graffiti on Friday, then monitor the sites for three months, said Keith Barrett, BID president.

"You don't want your car in a business that has graffiti all over it," Redline Collision owner Antonios Saragias said, adding that new graffiti appears on his shop almost weekly.

The town has the ability to issue notices and summonses to property owners who have not cleaned up graffiti. But, Berland said, the owners sometimes use paint that's a different color than their building, making the cleanup attempt unsightly. Or, business owners simply get tired of constantly cleaning up and stop, she said.

Berland said she also hopes to establish a town graffiti hotline for residents to report sightings of the vandalism.