Graffiti, a Growing Problem Along the Bronx River Parkway
On a recent bicycle ride on the Bronx River Parkway bike trail, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner was surprised by the amount of graffiti along the path. “The scenery is beautiful. One big problem: Lots of graffiti along the path, from south of the Kensico Dam to White Plains and Scarsdale,” Feiner said in an email. “Almost every bridge and wall along the pathway has graffiti on it, some with language not suitable for children.”
Feiner took photos of the graffiti and sent them to the office of the Westchester County Executive, suggesting that the graffiti be removed.
“The graffiti reminds me of the old NYC subways or the South Bronx and symbolizes (in my opinion) disrespect for public property and neglect. It leaves a very poor impression of the park,” Feiner added.
Feiner also posted some of the photos on his personal Facebook page and received some interesting responses. “Some people agree that the county should remove the graffiti. Others feel that the county should turn the graffiti along the path into a community art project. Many people responding to his Facebook post suggested encouraging art groups to work with local youth to turn spaces along the parkway and under bridges into community art.
“Last year I contacted the Friends of the Parks and suggested that the Friends organize a graffiti busters (group), soliciting volunteers to remove the graffiti from areas along bridges, paths, and walls along the bike paths,” Feiner said.
There have been volunteers working along the path to clean up the unwanted messages.
Feiner is looking for residents’ opinions and has suggested several options:
1. Westchester County should remove the graffiti along the Bronx River bikeway and respect open spaces.
2. A volunteer graffiti busters group should be formed to remove the graffiti.
3. The county will never be able to completely get rid of graffiti along the path. The county should approach artists and create a community art project along the path.
Feiner also noted, “In the interest of fairness, a few weeks ago I cycled from Elmsford to Ardsley on the South County trail and had the opposite experience. The path had no graffiti on it, parts of the path were repaved, no debris alongside the path. I was very pleased and sent the County Executive and Commissioner of Parks a thank you note, praising them for the efforts. I also posted on my Facebook pages positive comments. Last year I had complained about the lack of maintenance along that stretch of the pathway.”
