About graffiti cleaned
Summary
In this section of EveryBlock, you can find out when the city has cleaned graffiti in your block or neighborhood — and how long it took to get the job done.
The Mayor's Community Affairs Unit has a database of cleanup locations. Each report includes the graffiti's location and the waiver date — when a building owner requested the cleanup and when the request, a waiver, was entered into the system. Property owners file waivers granting the city the right to enter property and to remove graffiti.
Also included is each item's status: cleaned, no graffiti found, cannot locate — final (which indicates the city will no longer try to clean up the graffiti after several requests) or refused. The last status can indicate a property owner has changed his or her mind.
Note that cleanup dates are approximate. City crews are sent to clean up graffiti at several locations over the course of a few days.
Cleanups are reported as complete once an entire set is finished. This accounts for the "bunching" of dates in the data, with no cleanups for a number of days in a row and then hundreds listed in a day.
Source
The data comes from this database of completed graffiti cleanup locations, maintained by the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit. This database is updated as graffiti cleaning crews complete work, and we at EveryBlock retrieve data on a nightly basis.
What else should I know about graffiti in New York?
The city learns about graffiti largely from citizens. Dial 911 for crimes in progress, and 311 to provide information about existing graffiti.
Building owners are legally responsible for removing graffiti, but they can have graffiti removed by the city at no cost by filing a waiver with the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit. The waiver allows city workers to enter property and use varying forms of removal technology.
Also check EveryBlock's list of pending graffiti cleanups. Note that not all completed cleanup records have a related record in this section of EveryBlock. In these instances, the waiver was filed and the cleanup was performed on the same day.
The city has an Anti-Graffiti Initiative, and the Community Affairs Units offers The Mayor's Paint Program, which allows community and volunteer groups to plan and execute cleanup projects with supplies and paint provided by mayor's office. Paint program locations are not represented in the cleaned graffiti list.
