Police Precincts Team Up For Forest Hills Graffiti Cleanup

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Police officers from Forest Hills and Kew Gardens teamed up on Wednesday to clean up graffiti in the Austin Street pedestrian underpass at Union Turnpike.

Neighborhood coordination officers from the NYPD's 112th and 102nd Precincts joined forces for the cleanup effort after receiving complaints about the graffiti, according to a police spokesperson, though neighbors have long griped about the underpass' conditions.

As of July 19, there have been 29 complaints of graffiti in the neighborhood, compared to seven during the same timeframe last year, police spokesperson Det. Annette Shelton said, citing 311 and 911 records.

Graffiti cleanup efforts like the one in the underpass are becoming more common since the city indefinitely suspended its $3 million Graffiti-Free NYC program this spring, after the coronavirus pandemic took a hit on the city's finances, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Shelton, the NYPD spokesperson, urged residents to call 311 or reach out to their neighborhood coordination officers to report graffiti they want removed.