Date: 2009Material: digital imageDimension:
111 kb (digital image)
Creator: Tony RohlingIdentifier: aql:18178 rohling_tony_doc rohling_tony_doc.pdf
Description: “The solution is to clean up graffiti as soon as it appears” Researching methods to create a graffiti-free Sunnyside, Tony Rohling and the members of his court association in Sunnyside Gardens came across a successful Australian model.“The solution for graffiti isn’t putting a police car on every corner 24/7,” Tony explains. “The solution is to clean up graffiti as soon as it appears. Once the vandals realize that their work isn’t tolerated in this community, they won’t do it anymore.” The group’s first collaborative graffiti clean-up event eight years ago was an instant success. More than 40 people showed up, cleaning far more than the anticipated two blocks on Skillman Avenue.The nonprofit organization Sunnyside United was born and began collaborating with the local police department, businesses, religious organizations, government officials, merchants and the mayor’s anti-graffiti taskforce. Today Sunnyside United welcomes between 75 and 100 volunteers to each of their biannual clean-up events, in which 40 neighborhood blocks are cleaned. “But the follow-up work is just as important,” says Tony. That’s why he recruits residents and merchants to maintain lampposts, store gates and walls, providing them with brushes, paint and chemicals, and visits local schools to educate students. The next clean-up event is on May 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM. Volunteers will meet in front of the Sunnyside Reformed Church on Skillman Avenue and 48th Street. In the podcast, Tony talks about society’s mixed message regarding graffiti, his clean-up methods, the Australian model his group reproduced and the many ways to get involved.
Summary/Description : “The solution is to clean up graffiti as soon as it appears” Researching methods to create a graffiti-free Sunnyside, Tony Rohling and the members of his court association in Sunnyside Gardens came across a successful Australian model.“The solution for graffiti isn’t putting a police car on every corner 24/7,” Tony explains. “The solution is to clean up graffiti as soon as it appears. Once the vandals realize that their work isn’t tolerated in this community, they won’t do it anymore.” The group’s first collaborative graffiti clean-up event eight years ago was an instant success. More than 40 people showed up, cleaning far more than the anticipated two blocks on Skillman Avenue.The nonprofit organization Sunnyside United was born and began collaborating with the local police department, businesses, religious organizations, government officials, merchants and the mayor’s anti-graffiti taskforce. Today Sunnyside United welcomes between 75 and 100 volunteers to each of their biannual clean-up events, in which 40 neighborhood blocks are cleaned. “But the follow-up work is just as important,” says Tony. That’s why he recruits residents and merchants to maintain lampposts, store gates and walls, providing them with brushes, paint and chemicals, and visits local schools to educate students. The next clean-up event is on May 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM. Volunteers will meet in front of the Sunnyside Reformed Church on Skillman Avenue and 48th Street. In the podcast, Tony talks about society’s mixed message regarding graffiti, his clean-up methods, the Australian model his group reproduced and the many ways to get involved.
Subject : Graffiti; Vandalism; Community development, Urban; Volunteer workers in community development; Rohling, Tony
Rights : These audio recordings, photos and articles are the property of Sabine Heinlein. Uses of edited excerpts from her interviews are protected under a Creative Commons public domain license, but her full, unedited audio is open to researchers by request. Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for access. For reproductions of the unedited recordings, please contact Sabine Heinlein at (sabineheinlein@gmail.com).
Coverage : Sunnyside, NY Sunnyside (New York, N.Y.) Queens (New York, N.Y.)
Rights Notice These audio recordings, photos and articles are the property of Sabine Heinlein. Uses of edited excerpts from her interviews are protected under a Creative Commons public domain license, but her full, unedited audio is open to researchers by request. Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for access. For reproductions of the unedited recordings, please contact Sabine Heinlein at (sabineheinlein@gmail.com).
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