Directly across from the Polish Hill Civic Association office is the neighborhood Veteran’s Monument. PHCA has a volunteer group that is responsible for placing this monument in the neighborhood as well as maintaining it. During the seasons, the monument will sport holiday decorations. Above, the tree is decorated for Memorial Day, which took place on Monday, May 26.
On May 22, we arrived at the Polish Hill Civic Association office to find the monument defaced.
The defacing went on, around the corner on Brereton Street. The building is slated for renovation and represents leaps forward in the hearts of the residents on Polish Hill.
Several months ago, PHCA had cameras installed, overlooking the neighborhood. The taggers were caught on film and someone from the neighborhood was able to identify them. We will follow up with an update as more information becomes available. PHCA contacted Graffiti Busters immediately, through the Mayor’s 311 line. The Graffiti Busters were on the job on Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day.
The crew cleared the windows of the buildings on Brereton Street as well as painting over the tags on the monument.
If you are experiencing n outburst of tagging and graffiti, the procedure for graffiti removal is —
Graffiti Busters, a subdivision of the Traffic Division of DPW, rids graffiti from the City of Pittsburgh to the best of its ability, concentrating mostly on public properties including city parks, walls, steps etc. Graffiti Busters also focus on removing graffiti from the major corridors and some private properties when occasion and funding permits.
If occasion and funding does allow for graffiti removal from private property, it is necessary for the property owner to complete and sign a Graffiti Permission Slip. A Graffiti permission slip can be obtained by calling Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s Response Line at 311. However, prior to requesting a graffiti permission slip, it is necessary to report all
graffiti to the Police by calling 911. Graffiti Busters will only honor permission slips containing a police report number.
This and other useful information can be found in The Mayor’s Neighorhoods First Handbook. Given the application process for graffiti removal, PHCA is delighted with the short response time of the Department of Public Works. Thank you, to the crew that came through on Tuesday morning. Your efforts are very much appreciated.
Kudos to the Graffiti Busters!
I really cannot fathom the mindset of people who feel the need to deface other people’s property with their “tags.” I have caught a few kids scribbling on the seats on PAT buses and have scared the daylights out of them before taking their pens and markers. It’s sad to see this kind of disrespect for other people’s property, especially a public service space.
I hope that the vandals get what’s coming to them.