Walls of businesses at 31st Street and Ditmars Boulevard were defaced by a 16-year-old vandal in a brazen daylight act.

A boneheaded 16-year old boy was arrested at around 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 11 after he climbed to the rooftops of local Astoria businesses in broad daylight just down the street from the offices of anti-graffiti advocate City Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr. and vandalized walls with spray paint.

After seeing the vandal atop a restaurant on 31st Street and Ditmars Boulevard, local merchants notified police and called Vallone, who arrived in time actually to watch the boy tagging the wall and being arrested. The suspect was found with a bag full of graffiti instruments and had paint on his body. He is being charged with making graffiti, a Class A misdemeanor, and Vallone is asking for restitution for damage to the businesses.

"But this case demonstrates how brazen many of these kids are getting," Vallone said. "They have the mentality that graffiti isn't a crime, or they won't get caught doing it. Graffiti sends the message that we do not care about our neighborhoods- but arresting these vandals says that we do."

At the scene, Vallone spoke with all the business owners whose properties had been defaced and promised to work with the office of District Attorney Richard Brown to get compensation for the costs of cleaning their properties. He thanked the police for their swift and decisive action.

"This arrest is incredibly unusual for a graffiti case. It is usually difficult for police to catch graffiti vandals while they actually are defacing property, let alone in the middle of the day with many witnesses," the councilmember said. Vallone has pioneered legislation to make it easier for police to charge vandals for simply possessing graffiti instruments such as spray paint, broad-tipped markers and etching acid and continues to fight to stiffen vandalism laws. In this case, however, he just had to walk down the street.

"Hopefully, this kid and others have learned a lesson: if you vandalize our neighborhoods, we will catch you- especially if you're an idiot." Vallone said.
 

City Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr. assures owners of businesses defaced with graffiti that he will work with the Queens District Attorney to have them compensated for the costs of cleaning their premises as a police officer from the 114th Precinct looks on.