Neighbor Marty shared this unfortunate tale of paint-powered mayhem on Bernal’s west side:
Hoodlum revelers whooped it up along the Eugenia steps between Prospect and Winfield during the holidays. The steps were hit on December 26 & 27 December with graffiti. Monday night the 26th was just the top area of the stairs, which was cleaned up Tuesday by volunteers. On the night of the 27th, the graffiti bandits returned with gold paint to hit more than just the stairs. The list reads like the twelve days of Christmas: 1 fire hydrant, 2 fences, 3 trees, 4 houses, 5 utility poles, the stairs, the sidewalk, the curb, and even the street were all vandalized with gold paint. If there had been a partridge in a pear tree, they probably would have graffitied that too.
Neighbors bonded together to help clean up and cover the mess all day Wednesday. Please keep your eyes peeled for any late night loiterers on the stairs, and definitely report any graffiti to the police, because the gang task force may examine the photos for known tags.
Neighbors can also join the Graffiti Watch program, managed by the city. After a two-hour training, all supplies — paints, brushes, trash bags, etc — are provided by the city. In exchange, you adopt a four-block area of your neighborhood to keep the graffiti covered.
PHOTOS: Neighbor Marty
Bernalwood 
seriously, my same irritation here as for the garbage dumping. Let’s get some CCTV where it is needed! how do we as a community rally for one??
Perhaps some inconspicuously mounted game cameras would do the trick. They’re relatively inexpensive, digital, and motion detecting.
Can you provide a link? I started looking at cameras but it was hard to separate the good from the bad and I have no experience in buying/using this kind of thing.
I’ve never bought or used one. I’ve found a bunch on Amazon. I’d like to get one since I live on a corner and have fantasies about catching and shaming lazy and inconsiderate dog walkers who don’t pick up after their beasties.
I helped out on this clean up but we owe most of the thanks to Marty. He is constantly cleaning up after our local “artists” on the steps and elsewhere. He is a good neighbour.
As a Eugenia street dweller I just have to say that we love Marty! He is so awesome to take care of the gardens and surrounding streets. We walk those steps daily and are so appreciative of the work that he does to create a beautiful area that all the neighbors can enjoy. When we first came to look at our house over a year ago, we took a walk through the Eugenia Street Gardens and the very first person we ever met in Bernal was Marty. After talking to him for just a few moments hearing about how he took over the space and keeps it looking beautiful with donated plants from neighbors, we knew that this community was one we wanted to be a part of! He is the perfect example of what makes this neighborhood so special. Thanks Marty for all your hard work and loving attention to the garden, you are so appreciated!
FYI — there are all kinds of game camera used for hunting and other outdoor activities. There are both infrared and motion activated models. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_11?url=search-alias%3Dsporting&field-keywords=game+cameras&sprefix=game+camera
Amazing clean up job. I walked down the steps yesterday or the day before and purposely went to show my boyfriend how f*cked it was and i could barely find anything that proved that i wasnt making it up! Really nice job. That was messed up. Kids! Grr.