A non-profit community group that has earned accolades for efforts to keep New York City clean is sending work crews out to help MTA Long Island Rail Road undo the unsightly work of graffiti vandals scarring LIRR bridges, most in Greater Jamaica. The LIRR is partnering in the pilot program with NYC Community Cleanup, an organization that targets litter and vandalism by deploying non-violent offenders doing community service time. NYC Community Cleanup is a creation of the Center for Court Innovation in partnership with the state Office of Court Administration, the Office of the Mayor's Criminal Justice Coordinator and the Queens District Attorney and it develops innovative approaches to public safety problems.

NYC Community Cleanup crews are tackling graffiti on the street level, concrete abutments of the 195th St. Bridge in Hollis, Queens. In recent weeks, the group has painted over graffiti at nine other LIRR bridges, most in the Greater Jamaica area.

At each site, the LIRR provides supervision while workers from NYC Community Cleanup provide the elbow grease. The group also works to keep each site graffiti-free by responding quickly to paint over any new tagging by vandals.

NYC Community Cleanup is supported by criminal justice funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The group employs supervisors to direct work crews comprised of low-level offenders sentenced by judges to community service for non-violent offenses. In addition to outdoor painting, clearing garbage-strewn lots, littered streets and sidewalks, the group's services include indoor services such as mopping, vacuuming, painting, furniture polishing, window washing, floor waxing and floor buffing.

Work crews are highly visible. Participants wear special vests and jump suits and display special signage advertising that they are part of NYC Community Cleanup. 

All NYC Community Cleanup participants are offered links to social services - drug treatment, job training, and counseling. Any individual who does not complete community service as ordered is referred back to court for re-sentencing.

In another story, one of the most popular destinations in New York City - Grand Central Terminal - now has an official, self-guided audio tour available in English, Spanish and French.  Japanese, German and Italian will be added early next year. MTA Metro-North Railroad, which operates the Terminal, has teamed up with Orpheo USA, one of the world's most experienced producers of audio tours, to give tourists, travelers and locals alike a history of the terminal filled with interesting details and insights.

The Orpheo Group has equipped famous sites all over the world including several renowned New York sites such as the Empire State Building, the U.S.S. Intrepid and the Museum of the City of New York. Other famous venues are the Great Wall of China, the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Kremlin in Moscow, the Acropolis Museum in Athens, and Monaco Palace among others.


Orpheo's state-of-the-art audio device and headset comes with a map of the terminal for just $5 for adults, with discounts for seniors and the disabled at $4 and students at $3. The tour also has an introduction by New York City's own mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

The tour focuses not only on the architectural highlights of the Terminal but provides a real story about little known secrets, anecdotes, archival material and the History of the Terminal, with a capital H. Visitors will not see Grand Central with the same eyes after taking the tour.

In the coming months, the tour may be complemented by a visual component offering additional highlights of the Terminal's history, renovation, special events and clips from movies filmed there over the years.