Mineola business owners on the southwest corner of Jericho Turnpike and Herricks Road said Tuesday they are considering the installation of security cameras in their ongoing battle against graffiti vandals.
Jim Canell, co-owner of BedQuarters at 525 Jericho Turnpike, said the decision to consider security cameras was prompted by the spraying of graffiti “tags” on the rear wall of his building and company trucks a month ago – the latest in a series of graffiti incidents in the area.
“It’s a little frustrating to see what these punks are doing.
What they’re doing is costing us money,” Canell said. “We can get fined. If you don’t get the tags removed in a reasonable amount of time, we get fined.”
Removal of the tags spray painted on the rear wall and the trucks cost more than $650 including graffiti removers and painting, Canell said.
“There’s been other cases. The recurrence of it has been the pain,” Canell said. “My neighbors have repainted and they’ve come again.”
Canell said he was working with the owners of Essef Industries, around the corner at 264 Herricks Road, to get a cost for cameras. He said he has been leaving the lights on in the rear of BedQuarters since last month’s incident and not suffered an attack since.
Canell said Essef has been struck on three successive occasions with the tag “Mouse” used each time. Efforts to reach Essef representatives were unavailing.
Canell said Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss recently stopped by his store and told him the Nassau County Police Department’s 3rd Precinct has a plain clothes graffiti unit investigating the problem.
Strauss has said locations in Mineola, Garden City, Carle Place, New Cassell and Westbury have been hit with graffiti in recent months.
Mike Falcone, manager at the Auto Barn at 515 Jericho Turnpike, said his store’s rear wall and a truck were spray painted a month ago when BedQuarters was hit.
“They haven’t gotten us since,” Falcone said.
He said any decision to buy security cameras would be made at the corporate level.
At a Mineola Village Board meeting in July, Strauss said he had consulted with problem-oriented police officers at the 3rd Precinct about the graffiti problem.
Strauss said Inspector Sean McCarthy, the 3rd Precinct commanding officer, is familiar with the tags found in Mineola. The 3rd Precinct, he said, had canvassed local school districts in an effort to determine the identities of graffiti vandals, who they believe are teenagers.
Strauss said the spray painting is being done late at night and only high-end security cameras could help identify graffiti vandals. He also said repainting is an expensive solution that shouldn’t be the ultimate answer to the problem.
“The problem isn’t the businesses. It’s the kids,” Strauss said.
