JERSEY CITY – The city of Jersey City has executed an agreement with Conrail to paint welcome murals on train trestles throughout the city welcoming residents to neighborhoods, creating signage were none currently exists, and removing graffiti from several historic retaining walls.
“We are excited to expand our mural project to include the train trestles that are located throughout the City and which are viewed by hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors daily,” said Mayor Fulop. “The train trestles for years have been a site of graffiti and we saw this as an opportunity to display the creativity of our arts community while also welcoming residents and visitors to Jersey City.”
The agreement was sought with Conrail in response to requests the mayor received from community groups, in particular, the South Greenville Neighborhood Association, regarding long-standing graffiti that has plagued the Garfield Avenue trestles which greet commuters as they enter and exit Jersey City from Bayonne.
Buoyed by the positive success of the mural program, in which 22 murals have been installed in across the city, the mayor decided to reach out to Conrail and strike a partnership in an effort to clean up the Conrail Trestles that run across Grand Street, Newark Avenue, and Garfield Avenue.
The majority of the murals will be painted by local artist Paws21, who was born in Jersey City and has career spanning two decades. Paws21 recently completed a mural on the corner of Bergen Avenue and Reed Street for the City, as well as the Super Bowl wall on Christopher Columbus last November. Another local artist, Sue One, will begin work on the Grand Street retaining wall to cover up a recent graffiti tag.
The city is still soliciting proposals for the retaining walls on Newark and Pacific Avenues. Work on the trestles and retaining wall is expected to commence shortly.
The trestles include those on Grand Street, Garfield Avenue, Pacific Avenue, Montgomery Street, Newark Avenue and Johnston Avenue.
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