Ford continues anti-graffiti campaign at east-end restaurant

Mayor Rob Ford continued his campaign against graffiti in the city’s east-end on Wednesday morning, painting over black spray paint as part of the annual Clean Toronto Together Program.

“Everybody has had enough of this graffiti,” Ford said at a news conference at Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue.

“We are fighting back and we are going to remove this graffiti and put up a beautiful mural.”

The owners of the Pizza Pizza on the corner said they planned to put a mural on their building, but first, existing ”artwork” must be removed.

Ford and Coun. Gary Crawford each took up a beige paint roller and began to paint over the graffiti. At a similar event two years ago, Ford used a pressure washer to remove graffiti.

Ford, who campaigned on a pledge to crack down on graffiti, and Crawford, who represents Scarborough Southwest, said the mural would help deter tagging.

“This corner has been plagued by graffiti for a number of years,” Crawford said, saying the owners of the Pizza Pizza had spent thousands of dollars cleaning the outside walls.

Once the mural is in place, Crawford said, it’s hoped that there will be less illegal graffiti in the area.

The month-long Clean Toronto Together Program began on April 2.

The first part of the program includes city staff removing graffiti, litter and dead tree branches from city properties. About 50 litter vacuums, 45 sweepers, 20 front-end loaders, 50 stake trucks, 11 collection trucks and 60 pickup trucks will be used in the effort.

Then, office workers and students across Toronto will participate in the Corporate and School Cleanup on Friday. On Saturday, the mayor will host his annual Community Cleanup Day where individuals and community groups work to beautify their neighbourhoods.

With files from Shawne McKeown

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