When it comes to Thayer Street politics, it isn't often that the University, business owners and College Hill residents agree publicly. But one issue has riled up East Side neighbors, businesses and Brunonians alike: graffiti.
Several Brown buildings and area businesses have been marked recently. Historic East Side institutions like the Providence Athenaeum, the Stephen Hopkins House Museum and the statue in Prospect Park have been hit.
And once old brick has been the target of graffiti, it never looks the same, even after being cleaned, said Susan Hardy, co-chair of the College Hill Neighborhood Association's graffiti task force.
Despite a unified campaign against the vandalism and a citywide task force formed by Mayor David Cicilline '83 to combat "tagging," as graffiti artists call it, East Side residents and business owners say they are still fighting an uphill battle.
"People see it as harmless self-expression, but it ends up damaging people's property," Hardy said. She added that the CHNA task force is especially concerned with the tagging of historic buildings.
Hardy said defenders of graffiti believe "graffiti is Americana, but when historic buildings that are American, that are part of our legacy (are being destroyed), that's ironic."
Steven Heck, the other CHNA task force co-chair, said that graffiti stands out as a flaw on the East Side. Heck said that some College Hill visitors have told him the East Side "is such a neat area. Too bad (there is) so much graffiti."
So far, the city's task force has organized efforts both to catch graffiti artists in the act of tagging and to clean up graffiti where it has occurred, but they "can't be everywhere all the time," Hardy said.
"Brown has done an excellent job (of removing graffiti) on their property. They do make an effort," Heck said. "On the periphery though, there's another story."
There are about 10 to 15 graffiti incidents on Brown's campus every month, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management, in an interview last month, after two local college students were arrested and charged with malicious mischief after tagging a Brown building. Maiorisi estimated that Brown spends an average of $10,000 a year in graffiti removal.
The Thayer Street District Management Authority - composed of Thayer Street business and property owners - intends to remove graffiti, but has not done much thus far because a certain temperature is needed "for chemicals to be able to penetrate the material," said Kenneth Dulgarian, director of the DMA and owner of the Avon Cinema and other Thayer Street buildings.
Still, Hardy said the DMA could be taking a more active role in cleaning graffiti, and added that it may have missed opportunities to remove graffiti before the winter chill.
Hardy said prompt cleanup is especially important because graffiti sends the message that an area is neglected, which only encourages more vandalism. Heck said businesses like Ben and Jerry's on Meeting Street and City Sports on Thayer are not doing enough to promptly remove graffiti from their buildings.
To improve cleanup efforts on the East Side, Heck said he wants more people to participate in an "adopt-a-spot" program, in which College Hill residents tend to a spot and "try to keep it graffiti-free."
Hardy said she would like the Thayer Street landlords to "be more responsible" and seek to educate the public about the fact that graffiti and tagging are crimes. She also said that Brown students should take a more active role in cleaning up graffiti on College Hill.
Brown students "should be just as outraged as the rest of us are," she said. "It is their community as well."
