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serious threat to new orleans -
11-01-2003, 08:30 AM
anti-graffiti vigilantes
A few years ago, Fred Radtke looked around New Orleans and didn't like what he saw. The visual charm of this beautiful city was under attack. From the sides of buildings to interstate underpasses to canal walls, it seemed that no public surface was safe from this eyesore epidemic. Left unchecked, it seemed certain to continue. Here and there, people had stood up to this visual virus, but without a concerted effort, the battle could never be won. As in so many other urban environments, graffiti was digging itself in, determined not to leave without a fight.
So Fred took matters into his own hands. He told Helm's Paint that if they supplied the paint, he'd paint over the graffiti he'd grown tired of looking at on the cemetery walls. They agreed and he painted over it all by himself. When he noticed a few weeks later that the markings were back, he knew that keeping the graffiti out of sight was only going to happen if someone made a long term commitment to fighting it. So he formed Operation Clean Sweep, an effort dedicated to combatting graffiti and the people who make it. In addition to all the graffiti he has cleaned up in the last few years, Fred has helped the police and FBI track down gang graffitiers and he's worked with the New Orleans City Council to create legislation that imposes fines on property owners who don't clean up graffiti on their property. But Fred feels that his greatest accomplishments are both the awareness he's helped raise about New Orleans' graffiti problem and also the work he's done to prevent crime and the spread of gangs by thwarting of their main forms of communication.
As Fred will tell you, Operation Clean Sweep couldn't happen without the help of its many partners. Helm's Paint supplies the paint and brushes. Volunteers help reclaim public surfaces using donated supplies. Neighborhood organizations from every part of the city have supported this crusade. MCNO has even made a financial contribution to Operation Clean Sweep's efforts.
If you see graffiti in your neighborhood, take Fred's lead and do something about it: call Operation Clean Sweep's Graffiti Hotline at 486-9694. It probably won't be long before you see Fred and his gang of volunteers helping to reclaim the beauty of your neighborhood.
yeah i found the old one but here's an interesting point that wasn't raised:
recently, residents of new orleans' st. charles avenue (a bunch of old mansions basically, although many only a coupla blocks away from projects) called police and city officials and police to complain about big white stripes & rectangles painted all over trash cans, lamp posts and street signs all up and down the avenue, assuming it was an act of vandalism. it was actually mr. radtke's vigilante buffing effort, which still pissed off many residents.
if the buff is more of an eyesore than actual graffiti, that is pretty lame.
of course it's more of an eyesore to writers, but to know that 50-something rich southern white folks are bothered by it too is a tad bit reassuring.
^^^sure it's an eyesore and virus to anyone who hates it.
Epidemic, now that's going overboard. It's only paint and doesn't do any structural damage.
It just basically hurts peoples "feelings" and people don't like having their feelings hurt.
yeah i found the old one but here's an interesting point that wasn't raised:
recently, residents of new orleans' st. charles avenue (a bunch of old mansions basically, although many only a coupla blocks away from projects) called police and city officials and police to complain about big white stripes & rectangles painted all over trash cans, lamp posts and street signs all up and down the avenue, assuming it was an act of vandalism. it was actually mr. radtke's vigilante buffing effort, which still pissed off many residents.
if the buff is more of an eyesore than actual graffiti, that is pretty lame.
of course it's more of an eyesore to writers, but to know that 50-something rich southern white folks are bothered by it too is a tad bit reassuring.
kind of Ironic isn't it. He is a product of their society. Shit does kill it though. got nothin more to say but opinions, so go write on something if you got shit on the mind.
-we underneath beneath below, but way above what you know-B+P-
just wait till the company gets sick of supplying him with free paint. eventually they realize hes gettin nowhere. if he takes a block back writers need to take 2 new ones over. the company will start losing money eventually if not already
<div class=\'quotetop\'>QUOTE (T=E=A=S=E - Nov 19 2004, 11:01 AM)</div><div class=\'quotemain\'>if she gives me a disease i'll impregnate her with a retarded child and flee the country.
swear to allah my niggas.
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</div>
not the first time there has been open war in these streets. Around the turn of the century a buch of kick back confederates w/ the support of the social elite tried to take the city from a prodominantly black police force. Open war in the streets for a while. dumb bastrds couldn't accept defeat. People down here always trying to keep the culture underfoot.
-we underneath beneath below, but way above what you know-B+P-
serious threat to new orleans -
11-01-2003, 08:30 AM
