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12 COURIER LIFE, OCT. 2-8, 2020
The artist’s daughter poses with the mural before it was vandalized. Nicole Stuart
Vandals deface local
artist’s mural overnight
BY JESSICA PARKS
A local artist painted a sprawling
colorful mural to cover up graffi ti blemishing
a Bay Ridge street corner, only to
fi nd that vandals had defaced the painting
less than 24 hours later — leaving
the artist heartbroken, and locals fuming
over the recent uptick in vandalism.
“It broke my heart so much that this
happened,” said Nicole Stuart, who authored
the mural at the corner of Gelston
Avenue and 92nd Street. “The neighbors
were so grateful and it just brings joy to
so many people. It’s just a shame.”
Stuart, the founder of communitybased
art program Building Brooklyn
Street Art, said she had taken it upon
herself to beautify the corner with a
portrait that completely covered the
unsightly spray paint — which had featured
barely-legible black and white bubble
letters, along with other scribbles.
“I pass there every day and it just
looked terrible,” said Stuart. “The
whole corner is littered with graffi ti.”
After she fi nished the fl ower painting,
grateful locals had taken to social
media to sing Stuart’s praises for her
artistic effort, saying the colorful canvas
added some much-needed brightness
to the area.
“Such a beautiful work of art to see
on my block. Always thought I lived
on a rather drab looking part of Bay
Ridge but this has made me feel so
happy. Especially such a hard time
in my life,” wrote local resident Anna
Flores on Stuart’s Instagram page.
Yet the next day, the artist passed
the corner to fi nd that ne’er-do-wells
had spray-painted more graffi ti on top
of her design, becoming latest example
of vandalism in the area, she said.
“The neighbors have been telling
me it’s gotten a lot worse since COVID,”
Stuart said. “They have been asking
me to do another location across the
street, they really want it fi xed.”
On the heels of the apparent uptick
in mischief, the area’s state senator
said he’s reached out to leaders of the
local police precinct, who promised to
step up enforcement and patrols on the
graffi ti-ridden intersection.
“We spoke to the 68th Precinct
about this location and they stated that
they will increase patrols to prevent
further problems at this particular location,”
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes
told Brooklyn Paper. “I’m proud of
how our community works together to
make our neighborhoods better.”
The pol also blasted city offi cials
for cutting the city’s graffi ti clean-up
program, while commending the community
for picking up the slack.
“The city’s $3 million graffi ti program
never should have been cut, but
neighbors are stepping in to fi ll the
void,” Gounardes said.