PROGRAM OVERVIEW

NYCEDC initiated the Graffiti-Free New York City (GFNYC) Program in 1999. It is the first and only full-time, street-by-street graffiti removal service in the City. The program began in Brooklyn, and its success prompted its expansion to the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan. GFNYC is now the first city-wide graffiti removal program in New York and is now a cooperative effort between NYCEDC, New York City's Department of Sanitation and the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit. The goals of GFNYC are to: Provide no-cost graffiti removal for affected public and private properties; Create challenging and skill-enhancing jobs for low-to-moderate income residents, and; Improve overall neighborhood aesthetics to promote business development and create goodwill throughout New York City's local communities Since the program's inception, more than 170 million square feet of surface area have been cleaned throughout the five boroughs. Since June 2008, GFNYC crews cleaned more than 5 million square feet of graffiti from residential and commercial buildings across the five boroughs. Read this City Hall press release, Citywide Graffiti Cleanup Initiative, to learn more about Mayor Bloomberg's commitment to city-wide graffiti removal efforts.

GRAFFITI REMOVAL TOOLS

GFNYC employs unique, state-of-the-art equipment that removes ten times more graffiti than traditional methods and at one-tenth of the cost. NYCEDC's graffiti fighting tools include new mobile painting and power-washing equipment that provide the flexibly to quickly address graffiti on nearly all surface types in New York City. GFNYC recently expanded its fleet from 13 to 23 graffiti cleaning vehicles. These newer, smaller, more neighborhood-friendly vehicles are equipped to both paint and power-wash buildings and other structures covered with graffiti. In May 2009, GFNYC kicked off a pilot program addressing elevated graffiti utilizing 2 new aerial-lift vans.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

HOW DOES GRAFFITI-FREE NYC WORK?

Property owners or their representatives may submit the following waiver to the City authorizing GFNYC crews to clean building facades up to 20 feet in height at no cost. Owners and their representatives are encouraged to complete the E-Waiver in order to expedite processing.  Printable versions are in .pdf format. If you are unable to open .pdf files, you will need to download the latest version of Adobe Reader. Graffiti Removal E-Waiver (Online Form) Graffiti Removal Waiver  (PDF) Graffiti Removal Waiver in Spanish (PDF) Graffiti Removal Waiver in Chinese (PDF) Non-owners can call 311 to report graffiti on properties of others. The City will identify the property owners and send them a notice to remove the graffiti in addition to the above waiver authorizing GFNYC services. If you are witnessing a graffiti crime in progress or existing graffiti you believe constitutes a hate crime, call 911 and you will be routed to NYPD's Citywide Vandals Task Force.

HOW SHOULD NYC INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS USE THIS PROGRAM?

Appointed NYC Industrial Business Solutions Providers or NYCEDC representatives are encouraged to distribute the above waiver to their business clients who are property owners or their authorized representatives. NYC Industrial Solutions Providers can submit the waivers on behalf of their clients or ask clients to submit the wavier directly, in which case follow-up with clients is advised in order to ensure submission.

HOW DOES GRAFFITI-FREE NYC DETERMINE SCHEDULE & ROUTES?

Work is scheduled for a given property based on the date on which the City receives a waiver from the property owner or authorized representative. Service routes are designed to minimize each crew's travel time between sites, thereby increasing their productivity and capacity to service the maximum number of properties each day. Due to the volume of graffiti removal requests, we do not respond immediately to each individual request. Instead, we build new requests into existing graffiti removal routes.

HOW DO I CHECK THE STATUS OF A GRAFFITI REMOVAL REQUEST?

To check the status of a request, use the Status of graffiti cleanup requests utility. Once a waiver is received by the City, anyone can check the property's graffiti removal status by entering the address provided on the waiver into either of these sites.

WHO PAYS FOR THIS PROGRAM?

Support for GFNYC is provided by Federal Housing and Urban Development Grants as well as additional funding and in-kind staff services from NYCEDC.

WHAT IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT GRAFFITI-FREE NYC?

For additional answers, please visit the frequently asked questions page. If you have a specific question that is not answered on this page, email us directly at GraffitiFreeNYC@nycedc.com.