Cleaning Up Queens

Email of the week comes from Manny in Queens, who writes:

On October 18th, 2008 thirty six volunteers came out in the cold to paint the Queens Boulevard Pedestrian Bridge. This was a long awaited project, not just by Queens Community Cleanup, but by many local officials, business and residents as well. This bridge connects many of the Long Island City buses and trains to Sunnyside, in particular LaGuardia Community College, and Aviation High School.

Recently we asked City Councilmember Eric Gioia what projects he would like to see completed in Long Island City, and graffiti removal on this bridge was top on the list. We then approached the Department of Transportation for permission to paint the bridge, and after a few emails, and phone calls, not only did we have permission they donated all the paint for the project as well.

At first we weren’t sure if we would have enough time or paint to cover the entire bridge, which mind you is a quarter mile long, the support columns for the elevated train are also part of the bridge, and there is a wall on both sides of the bridge. So we at first focused on just covering the graffiti, but when our strong group of volunteers finished in record time, and we had paint to spare, we decided to go back and make it look brand new. So by the end of the day we painted over a half miles worth of walls, equaling approximately 10,000 square feet.

I am very proud of the work we accomplished that day, and thankful for all the volunteers, and friends who came out and braved the cold to help make Long Island City, and better place to work, live and play.