UPPER WEST SIDE — Those half-empty gallons of paint sitting in the apartment could be put to good use, the owner of a local hardware store said.
Beacon Paint & Hardware, the 116-year-old shop on Amsterdam Avenue, will host a paint-donation event this spring to supply any and all of those in need of the material.
The idea for the drive, called "Paint the Town," stemmed from the gallons of unusable paint found sitting around the hardware store, co-owner Steven Stark said.
When a paint order gets mixed up — for instance, someone didn't realize they wanted a high-gloss type or they ordered the wrong color — the shop is left with a customized gallon of paint that's hard to resell and could be put to use helping someone else, he explained.
Stark could see "artists, students, school drama departments, community centers or charities that build homes," benefiting from a large paint donation, he said.
Stark recently reached out to 24th Precinct Officer Jennifer Toro, after hearing about her plans to paint murals at some of the most graffiti-laden sites in the neighborhood. Toro came by last week and picked up a donation of 5 gallons of paint, including "mailbox blue" for painting U.S. mailboxes, he said.
"We want to do our part," Stark said.
Those interested in donating paint should bring half-empty or even dated cans of latex paint to the store at 371 Amsterdam Ave. all day on May 22, he noted.
