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  July 20, 2003
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Making Our City Stronger Neighborhood By Neighborhood

By Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York is a city of more than 300 neighborhoods, and our administration is working to improve the quality of life in all of them. Two ways we're meeting that commitment are by battling the blight of graffiti and by protecting neighborhood senior centers, which offer older New Yorkers invaluable support and services right in their own backyards.

Last July, we launched a citywide campaign to cleanup graffiti. Graffiti is not just an eyesore; it's an invitation to criminal behavior. Zero tolerance for graffiti, and all quality of life offenses, sends the message that we won't tolerate disorder and crime. Not only does that keep New Yorkers safe; it also helps sustain neighborhoods where people want to live and businesses want to locate and invest. Last Wednesday in Ridgewood, I was pleased to report that the City's Anti-Graffiti Taskforce has removed 16.3 million square feet of graffiti from more than 6,200 sites in neighborhoods in all five boroughs over the last 12 months. That's equivalent to the area of more than 280 NFL regulation football fields and 80 decks of aircraft carriers the size of the Intrepid. It would also make a one square-foot strip that could stretch more than 3,000 miles from New York City to Yak-u-tat, Alaska.

More than a dozen city agencies have partnered with volunteer groups, block associations and community organizations in this effort. We're not declaring the city graffiti-free, yet. But as soon as graffiti appears, we're going after it. And as soon as you see graffiti in your neighborhood, call 311 and we'll take it down. Let's work together to make all of New York City's neighborhoods safer, more beautiful, and more economically vibrant places to live.

Despite our city's fiscal problems, our administration is strongly committed to providing the services and support that help older New Yorkers continue to live healthy, independent and fulfilling lives. That means protecting neighborhood senior centers and the services they provide. In coming up with the current city budget, we restored millions of dollars for senior services and made it clear that closing senior centers was not a budget-balancing option. For example, there are more than 100 senior centers and programs in New York City Housing Authority Developments, including the Rosetta Gaston Senior Center in Brownsville I visited last Thursday. Older residents of public housing rely on these neighborhood institutions for meals, health referrals, counseling and recreation. Because of a partnership between the City Department of Aging and NYCHA, I'm delighted to announce that all of them will be fully funded and operational.

New York is a city of close-knit communities. Fighting graffiti and supporting local senior centers are just two of the ways we're working to make our City stronger, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block.

 

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