Hoping to discourage graffiti and vandalism on Fishers
July 31, 2024
Dear Fishers Island Community –
What a wonderful summer we have been enjoying so far.
Those of us who live in the neighborhood to the west of the mouth of West Harbor were very disappointed that “Where the Wild Things Are” had been repainted on the crumbling sea wall in late May ‘24. The new letters are much taller, wider, bolder, and in bright white paint, which, in our opinion, is a real blight on the shoreline approach to Fishers Island.
The photos show the before and after of the wall taken last year and since the recent painting. If you ‘click’ into the new photos, you can still see the much smaller, faded older letters that were there for something like 50 or 60 years. While there was something quaint about those old words and the faded waves painted to their left, the newly repainted words are comparatively huge and are simply graffiti and vandalism to the harbor entrance.
While Fishers Island has a long and sometimes controversial history of road painting, generally, those road paintings are smaller, driven over, and fade over time. Recently, the island has been even more thoughtful about road painting, with reasonable “rules” in place.
Painting messages or sayings on a vertical seawall is very different, and particularly on this one in such a public place. Please imagine if you were the owner of one of the houses with the graffiti words directly in front of, or adjacent to your house. And please consider how that image appears to anyone approaching the primary harbor of the island by boat. Finally, consider that the old painted letters lasted 50-60 years, which would be the estimated lifespan for the new paint.
Our neighborhood group recently gathered and paid for the words to be power-washed off the wall. At the same time, we hope that this message to the Fishers Island community will discourage any future painting in that area, along with new cameras to monitor activity there. We are not seeking to punish those who did the painting in May but simply wish to discourage any future vandalism.
Thank you to the Island community as we strive to keep Fishers Island beautiful.
Sincerely,
Your Neighbors
