Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

More than $100K in City Funds Going to Astoria Street and Graffiti Cleanup

 City Councilman Costa Constantinides has allocated $67,165 to hire workers from The Doe Fund to clean commercial thoroughfares in Astoria.
City Councilman Costa Constantinides has allocated $67,165 to hire workers from The Doe Fund to clean commercial thoroughfares in Astoria.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

ASTORIA — City Councilman Costa Constantinides allocated more than $100,000 to street cleaning and anti-graffiti programs in his Queens district for the upcoming year, according to budget documents.

The council member, who was elected in 2013 and campaigned on a promise to tackle the neighborhood's litter problem, set aside $119,665 of his $710,000 in discretionary funds in the recent budget deal for street cleaning crews and graffiti removal.

"Our sidewalks and buildings are windows to the neighborhood and it is important to keep them clean and graffiti-free," Constantinides, who represents Astoria and parts of Woodside, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, said in a statement.

"Clean streets and buildings are more inviting to residents and visitors, and they bring economic benefits to small business owners," he said.

The councilman allocated $67,165 to The Doe Fund, which will continue sending cleaning crews to empty trash cans and pick up litter along several commercial streets in Astoria, a program that launched in the neighborhood last year.

Exact cleaning routes for the upcoming fiscal year will be announced in a few weeks, a spokeswoman for Constantinides said.

He also earmarked $15,000 for the Queens Economic Development Corporation to start a new anti-graffiti program in the district, and doled another $37,500 to the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition, part of which will go to an existing graffiti cleanup campaign the group runs. The rest will be used to promote local businesses, the budget shows.

Other local nonprofits that received larger portions of funding from Constantinides include the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, which was earmarked a total of $96,835 to fund programs for kids including homework help, performing arts instruction and fitness.

The councilman has dedicated $47,000 for the Astoria Performing Arts Center to run theater programs for the community, including children and seniors.

He also allotted $67,000 to social service organization HANAC (the Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee), including $23,000 for youth services like tutoring and homework help, $9,000 to run a STEM program at P.S. 2, and $22,000 for operations at the George Douris Tower, an affordable housing complex for seniors on Hoyt Avenue South.