In Mount Vernon, New York an emerging artist has graced the walls with a mural in honor of local legend Heavy D and the Boyz. The mural was constructed in effort to remove graffiti and replace it with art to keep the community happy and beautified.
“The artist is from the Bronx, his name is Andre Trenier and the mural is located in what now is called Heavy D and the Boyz Park, it was something that his mother and family wanted to do,” says Noah Sheroff, founder and executive director of Queens-based non-profit called 501(See)(Streets).”
501(See)(Streets) is a non-profit organization with a mission to revitalize and beautify New York City’s neighborhoods and the surrounding areas with mural art by bringing professional artists together along with community groups. According to Sheroff, their projects help to increase business, visibility and help decrease the amount of graffiti located in neighborhoods.
“I had reached out to Mount Vernon to their Chamber of Commerce to work together, they said, ‘yes’ and someone suggested I reach out to the mayor, who at the time was [Ernest] Davis, and [former] Mayor Davis was interested in what we were doing, so he suggested I reach out to the [parks] recreation,” said Sheroff. “They thought it would be a good fit because [Heavy D] is from there, they did a renaming of the park and refurbished the park and playground and [added] some basketball courts.”
The park is located at Lorraine Avenue and Willard Avenue in Mount Vernon and at a recent event coordinated by The Myers Foundation, which was founded by Heavy D’s mother, the mural was the center of attention.
