LINGERING PROBLEM
Offensive graffiti at apartment complex still not removed
HALFMOON, N.Y. » A resident of a local apartment complex has asked the Town Board for help in removing graffiti that has been up for more than a month.
Evangeline Casper-Burt saw the black spray painted graffiti for the first time when she went outside her apartment in the Landings, 5 Plant Road, on the morning of June 4. Saratoga County Sheriff Deputies were on the scene and taking photos.
Crude words, artist tags, free-wheeling designs, and at least one racial epithet had been spray painted on a set of white garage doors, part of the garage itself, at least one commercial vehicle and in a few smaller places in the complex.
A former resident of New York City, Casper-Burt, who is African American and Jewish, thought she left all that behind when she and her husband moved upstate. She found the racial epithet disconcerting and admits its presence bothered her but not to the extent that she demanded it be removed that very day.
Now, a month later, much of the graffiti remains up, though the “N” word has been painted over. The slowness of the graffiti removal process has taken its toll on her
"This is not normal behavior. It’s not acceptable behavior at all." — Supervisor Kevin Tollisen
and her husband’s spirit.
She has spoken about the incident at two town board meetings, the most recent on July 6.
“It’s been a whole month,” Casper-Burt said. “I hate to say it but in this upscale community it’s beginning to look like a project. I want to start a Neighborhood Watch program. I need some help.”
Supervisor Kevin Tollisen was aware of the graffiti.
“This is not normal behavior,” he said. “It’s not acceptable behavior at all.”
The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department confirmed there was an incidence of graffiti at the complex and the investigation is on-going.
A representative of the apartment complex who did not identify herself said she would contact the property manager and the corporate office seeking a statement or comment on the incident. The representative said she would make no comment herself.
Casper-Burt is perplexed that a well-kept apartment complex in a fast growing suburban community has let the graffiti linger in place for so long.
“That day when we first saw it, the neighbors were all walking around in shock,” she said. “I was torn. It was emotional to see that. I was crying. Some of them were saying they won’t renew their leases but I’m staying.”
Casper-Burt said she gave the Landings management a few weeks to get all the graffiti removed but once the “N” word was covered with paint the removal stopped.
“They’ve always had some excuse,” she said. “At first it was that the materials hadn’t arrived, then they were short staffed, and last week they had a water problem in an apartment that took all their attention. Come on. It’s right there for everyone to see. What would a prospective renter think if they drove in to look at an apartment and saw that?”
At one point Casper-Burt wondered aloud how fast the graffiti would have been removed had the Nazi broken cross symbol been spray painted on the doors and buildings instead of racial epithets and crudities.
“I would have felt terrible then too but I bet it would have been removed overnight,” she said.
As of Monday the graffiti had not been removed according to Casper-Burt. To ease her growing emotional strain she has turned the issue of dealing with the apartment’s management over to her husband, a retired New York City detective. In the meantime she is continuing her efforts to start a Neighborhood Watch program.
“Someone’s got to stand up and get the community involved and I guess it has to be me,” she said. “This should be a priority and it just doesn’t seem to be one. That’s troubling to me. Everything else seems to be a priority but not this.”
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department at 518885-6761.