For his ongoing efforts in erasing graffiti from buildings in the Bedford Park and Norwood sections of the Bronx, the Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) has presented Sirio Guerino, co-founder of Guerinos Against Graffiti (GAG), with the Mary Vallati Memorial Award, an annual prize which honors those individuals who provide exceptional service to their community.

 

Vallati was a longtime community activist who was active with the association until her death at 101. News of Guerino’s win was announced during BMCA’s final (virtual) meeting before the summer recess, held on June 2, and Guerino was physically presented with the award by the association’s executive committee a week later at a small gathering at Mosholu Parkway and Webster Avenue.

 

Barbara Stronczer, a lifelong Bronxite and president of the BMCA, said the committee felt this year’s accolade belonged to Guerino, who has been carrying out his clean-up work for several years but who went to extra lengths this past year, in particular.

“Sirio is what I would call a real community volunteer,” Stronczer told the Norwood News. “We always see him with his shopping cart walking through the community with different color paints and brushes, painting over graffiti he would find on mailboxes and walls. He’s been doing this for years, and we appreciate his work. We’re so glad to have him.”

 

Stronczer is also Parks’ committee chair of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7). As such, she was also aware of the extent of Guerino’s repeated clean-up efforts in the wider CB7 community this year, all of which have helped to promote a cleaner and safer environment.

 

In conjunction with the NYPD’s 52^nd precinct, the NYPD Explorers, and other community groups, several organized clean-up events were held in recent months across CB7 to clean up specific blocks which were identified as being more prone to gun violence than others. Other city agencies were also engaged to help address other quality of life issues in those target neighborhoods, all in efforts to uplift the local community. Guerino was one of the central figures involved in the clean-up efforts.

As Norwood News reported in 2017, Guerino and his wife Heather started GAG in 2015 after the couple grew frustrated with the graffiti they noticed was slowly taking over the walls of neighborhood businesses. But long before GAG was established, Guerino, a Bronx native, often left his home at 4 a.m. with paint cans and brushes in tow to track down any graffiti that had popped up overnight.

 

“I didn’t understand why my husband would go out with his shopping cart and paint,” Guerino’s wife told the 52nd precinct’s community council meeting on May 27. “I told him, ‘They’re going to put up graffiti no matter what you do’.”

 

However, in the end, she realized Guerino’s biggest pet peeve was also his passion. “I decided I wasn’t going to fight him anymore,” she said. “I wanted to support him, as his partner, so when he asked me to help him beautify The Bronx, I said, yes.” Today, Mrs. Guerino serves as GAG’s president while Mr. Guerino hunts down graffiti with his trademark shopping cart.

 

In addition to cleaning up the Bronx, the Guerino’s hosted the first-ever GAG Golden Brush Awards at the 52nd precinct’s community council meeting in May. Golden trophies, topped with paintbrushes, and covered in twinkling blue, green, and purple sequins, were awarded to community members who had supported and encouraged GAG’s mission over the last year.

Awards were presented to the 52nd precinct’s commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps, as well as to community affairs officer with the City’s sanitation department, Stephen J. Caruso Jr. Honorable mentions went to council president of the 52nd precinct community council, Brenda Caldwell-Paris and to Stephen Echevarria, 52nd precinct community affairs officer.

 

According to City data, neighborhoods across the five boroughs have experienced an uptick in graffiti this year, some of which has included offensive hate slogans and symbols, as reported by Norwood News. In response, the NYPD has created a dedicated email address, graffiti@nypd.org, which New Yorkers can use to send pictures and location information of graffiti in their respective neighborhoods to request its removal. Once the request has been reviewed and approved, a team of volunteers will be dispatched to follow-up.

 

Meanwhile, reacting to news of the award, Guerino said that receiving it took on a special meaning given that he knew and admired Mary Vallati when she was alive. During a phone interview with the Norwood News, he said, “Mary was always very active in the neighborhood, so it’s an honor to get an award named for her.”

 

Anyone who is looking for a dedicated Bronxite to assist with graffiti removal in their area can contact GAG’s Sirio Guerino at (718) 231-4762 or ssg.nag@gmail.com.

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.