Photos, blog post by John Hoff
OK, so I just wrote about this topic. Well, I found even MORE photos documenting my obsession with graffiti at 510 Cedar Ave. S., which is part of the "master address" of 516 Cedar Ave. S., site of a fatal explosion and fire on New Years. Authorities have not yet determined the cause, but Homeland Security is part of the investigation.
Since about 2008, as often as I walked by the building and saw graffiti, I reported it, racking up a number of reports over the months and years. At least a dozen, by my rough reckoning, but maybe more.
The two photos, above, which I either emailed to 311 or took with the intention of emailing to 311, show my son, Alex, wearing the same coat as in the previous photos. But I believe these photos were taken...
Photos, blog post by John Hoff
I wrote in a previous blog posting about how 516 Cedar Ave. S., a building involved in a fatal New Years Day explosion and fire, was such a graffiti hotspot that I made it my personal mission from God to make repeated reports to 311 for years at a time; whenever I happened to walk by. Sometimes I actually took pictures and forwarded those to 311, or at least I took pictures with the INTENTION of forwarding those to 311.
Today, while looking for a good stock photo to illustrate a story, I turned up some of those old photos of 510 Cedar Ave. S. so I am sharing those right now. (Keep in mind 510 is an ancillary address, the "master address" of the building is 516 Cedar Ave. S. and I believe 514 Cedar Ave. S. was included, too, and I believe I made a few 311 reports using THAT address, too)
These photos have an incorrect date stamp of 2006 but were probably from 2008 or 2009. My son, Alex, is included in the photos; not just for scale but because documenting the graffiti was also a photo opportunity with my son during weekend visitations...
Contributed photo, 2010, blog post by John Hoff, photo shows
building at issue and is not a stock photo
When I saw mainstream media coverage of the fatal fire at 516 Cedar Ave. S., I thought the building looked eerily familiar. I did some checking and, sure enough, I know that building all-too-well as a graffiti hotspot that I've reported to 311 not once, not twice, but probably a couple dozen times. The building at 516 Cedar Ave. S. is the "master address," but other addresses (including 510 Cedar Ave. S., where the graffiti always appeared) are included in the master address.
Click here for a blog post about the never-ending graffiti in August of 2010. In a follow-up blog posting in early September, I mentioned how the graffiti had been cleaned up, but had been hit AGAIN after being cleaned up and I'd reported it AGAIN.
That was, in fact, the pattern. Graffiti would appear, I'd report it, and the graffiti would get cleaned up. Only to reappear. After a while, graffiti got paint slapped upon it WITHOUT being reported, but then there would be slack. Then I'd have to make reports again. I simply made a report whenever I saw graffiti. I knew the address by heart, so I could make the report while WALKING.
Based solely upon my experience with the graffiti, I'd say stuff at that building was neglected and not taken care of in a timely fashion, but even I might conclude that draws too much inference from limited data. In any case...
Wow. That building was my little "mission from God." Each time I was in the area, I reported the graffiti. And, I must say, there was some attempt at painting a mural of flowers or something which seemed to repel the graffiti for a while, but only a little while.
