Quantcast

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

Parents Peeved Over 'Sick' Sidewalk Drawing in Front of Bay Ridge School

By Caroline Spivack | October 6, 2017 3:17pm | Updated on October 9, 2017 7:31am
 Frustrated parents of students at P.S. 102 in Bay Ridge don't want their children walking by this lewd graffiti every day on their way to school.
Frustrated parents of students at P.S. 102 in Bay Ridge don't want their children walking by this lewd graffiti every day on their way to school.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Caroline Spivack

BAY RIDGE — For months, parents of students at P.S. 102 have hastily steered their young kids past lewd graffiti etched into the sidewalk in front of the Bay Ridge elementary school, making for some uncomfortable moments on the otherwise sleepy residential street.

The sophomoric scrawl — featuring a penis and a pair of breasts — was drawn into the concrete only feet from the school's 71st Street entrance and has remained during the school year, much to parents' dismay.

"I hate that we walk by this every time I take him to school — I don't want him seeing this," said Susan Bruno, whose 5-year-old son is enrolled in first grade at P.S. 102. "I think it's disgusting that someone would even stop to draw something like that in front of a school full of young children."

The crude cartoon has even forced some awkward discussions between parents and their children, another parent said.

"My kid was asking about it one day," said Tarek El Mahdy, whose 6-year-old son attends second grade at the school. "It's just ridiculous and immature. I bet you some teenager did that and thought they were hilarious."

School officials and a spokesman with the Department of Education could not say how long the profane picture had been there, but after DNAinfo New York inquired about the vandalism, crews arrived to cover it up. 

The crude drawing had been painted over by Friday morning. (DNAinfo/Caroline Spivack)

"The image has been painted over and we will be resurfacing the concrete as soon as possible," said DOE spokesman Michael Aciman.

However, as of Friday morning, the outline of the crude etching still remained visible to passersby.

"That's just not what you want to see in front of your child's school," said Kristen Johnson, who has two daughters enrolled at P.S. 102, two days before the graffiti was painted over.

Katherine Klein, who regularly walks her niece to school in the morning but hadn't noticed the image before, scoffed at the image, calling it "juvenile."

"That's sick," she said.