Hate graffiti discovered at Bellmore LIRR station

Racial slurs insulting African-Americans were scrawled recently across billboard advertisements at the Bellmore Long Island Rail Road Station. The LIRR removed the vandalism early Monday evening, after alerted to the problem by the Bellmore Herald.

Metropolitan Transportation officials said they were unaware of the vandalism until Monday. It is unknown how long the graffiti had been up.

Though LIRR personnel try to maintain clean stations, such offensive graffiti can go unnoticed, said Sal Arena, a spokesman for the railroad. “LIRR personnel are always on the lookout for signs of vandalism of any kind at our stations, and hateful or offensive graffiti of any kind always gets an immediate response from our cleaning crews,” he said.

A single station agent is in charge of checking platforms and the area around each station for vandalism from Merrick to Massapequa Park. Since one agent is responsible for the six stations on the central part of the Babylon line, MTA officials encourage members of the public to contact them should they spot offensive graffiti such as the writings posted at the Bellmore station.

When the LIRR receives word of vandalism, a crew is sent to investigate that same day, Arena said. If the complaint is found to be true, the vandalism is documented and reported to MTA Police for further investigation, and then removed.

MTA Police will try to track down the person or people responsible for the vandalism. Should a suspect be caught, he or she would be charged with criminal mischief in the fourth degree or making graffiti, both Class A misdemeanors. Either offense is punishable by up to a year in prison. Because of the nature of the graffiti, the suspect could also be charged with a hate crime, Arena said.

According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice, “When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article and the specified offense is a misdemeanor or a class C, D or E felony, the hate crime shall be deemed to be one category higher than the specified offense the defendant committed.”

The LIRR asks for the public’s help in putting an end to graffiti at its stations. Anyone who sees graffiti or another act of vandalism should report it by dialing 511 and following the prompts to the LIRR or going to mta.info/faqs.htm to make a report via email.