Council Member Moya with CASA students Maria (left) and Sherley (right) painting over the graffiti across their school. (Emil Cohen/NYC Council)
March 29, 2022 By Allie Griffin
Council Member Francisco Moya teamed up with more than 30 middle school students Friday to remove graffiti near their Corona school building.
Moya and students from the Corona Arts & Sciences Academy — along with the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (ACE), the Neighbors of the American Triangle and NYC Sanitation workers — painted over graffiti on the LIRR walls across from the school, located at 98-11 44th Ave. They also cleaned up trash.
The students, who are part of an afterschool program called Publicolor, had previously painted the walls along the LIRR with bright colors in an effort to beautify the neighborhood. However, the walls were vandalized with graffiti.
“The students from Corona Arts & Sciences Academy have dedicated time and effort to beautify their neighborhood and we cannot allow these bad actors to have free rein to destroy our home,” Moya said.
“We cleaned up the streets, we restored the beautiful work the students did originally, and most importantly we sent a message that together we are stronger and can work to have the neighborhoods we deserve.”
Moya and the students called on the community to report vandals to the police in order to dissuade bad actors from trashing the area.
The council member also shared that he secured about $900,000 in fiscal year 2022 for services and programs to support cleanups and beautification efforts in his district. The money has helped fund the afterschool program, as well as the cleanup services provided by the ACE and extra NYC Sanitation service hours for the district.
The afterschool program leaders thanked Moya for his support and collaboration.
“Today was beyond inspiring! At Publicolor, we believe in the power of taking ownership and creating a sense of community,” said Irma Nepomuceno, Director of School and Community Relations at Publicolor. “That is exactly what we saw this afternoon.”
The repainted wall without the graffiti (Publicolor)
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