Bronx Underground, WLCA team up to clean graffiti

In an effort to beautify a wide swath of the local area, the Waterbury-LaSalle Community Organization is forming a partnership with neighborhood teens affiliated with the Bronx Underground, for a clean up of graffiti in the community.

Mary Jane Musano, representing WLCA, and David Rose and Frankie Rivera of Bronx Underground have formed what some may think an unlikely partnership between one of Throggs Neck’s premier community associations and a non-profit that puts on heavy metal shows for teens at Amvets in Country Club on Shore Drive, as well as the First Lutheran Church of Throggs Neck.

The clean up will involve 15 area teens, who will paint over graffiti throughout a one-mile radius of the First Lutheran Church of Throggs Neck on August 6, with paints and supplies provided by WLCA through grants they receive from the City and elected officials like Congressman Joe Crowley, who provides a Crimestoppers grant to the local organization.

The area being cleaned will be bordered by Bruckner Blvd., E. Tremont Avenue, and Middletown Road.

 “By having the kids paint, they will actually start to take pride in individual corners or streets they remove graffiti tags from,” said Rose, one of the directors of Bronx Underground. “If they see those areas graffiti once again, it will have that much more of an effect.”

Bronx Underground intern Frankie Rivera is in charge of organizing the event, which is different from the many heavy metal concerts the group promotes.

“We should have all of our volunteers within the week,” Rivera noted. “This clean up is about youth helping out in the community and Bronx Underground is here to make it happen.”  

Members of WLCA are elated that they are providing the supplies to teens that are eager to beatify the neighborhood.

“Bronx Underground is getting kids together to work on the clean-up,” Musano said. “We are happy they are getting kids together that other kids consider ‘cool’ to spread the message that graffiti is a blight on local communities.”

The graffiti clean-up will focus on public places that are often tagged by vandals, and will include mail-boxes, sides of commercial buildings, and even some private homes. Vandals have even gone so far as to tag the front doors of First Lutheran very recently, and this is something the entire community is watching.

“The doors to the church were tagged often before we started playing there,” Rose noted. “It stopped shortly after our concerts at the church began, and this is the first time we have seen it happen at the location in a while.  We don’t want to see it again.” 

For more information about the Bronx Underground, please visit them on the web at www.bronxunderground.com.

Bronx Underground, Waterbury-LaSalle Community Organization, graffiti, cleanup