Flower Hill Mural Ordered Covered Up After Village Complaints
FLOWER HILL, NY — Rino DiMaria just wanted to make people driving to St. Francis Hospital smile as they drove past his building in Flower Hill were a colorful head-turning abstract expressionist mural was painted recently. He did get some compliments on the exterior of the building, which contains two adjoining businesses, but he was ordered by the Village of Flower Hill to cover the walls after numerous complaints from area residents.
DiMaria, who commissioned artist Spencer Stown to paint the mural, was issued several summonses that included having extra signage, not having a permit for the mural, and not maintaining the building’s character in keeping with the surrounding community. Stown was in the process of painting a similar fresco inside a pizzeria at the location when DiMaria got the idea to go outside, he said.
“It looked so cool and I couldn’t stop smiling, I said, “Let’s go outside and make people smile who are going to St. Francis Hospital.’ I just wanted to bring some light and love to that dreary corner,” Di Maria said of the mural, which is painted at the corner of Middle Neck Road and Northern Boulevard.
DiMaria, who faces up to $20,000 in fines, is due in court on Feb. 25. He said that he does not plan to fight the village in its decision.
The village has been in contact with DiMaria and “the exterior will be restored to the same color as before,” according to a statement provided to Patch by Village Mayor Brian Herrington. The summonses were the “appropriate actions” and the village will take “further action” if necessary, Herrington said.
“The village is happy to work with our businesses and residents if they would like to alter buildings, as we have throughout this pandemic, using the processes provided for under our code,” he said.
Stown said it is kind of upsetting that the mural must be covered. “The reactions that we have been getting from a lot of people have been really positive. So, it’s kind of unfair that a few people can ruin it for everyone. But, I understand that it’s [the village] and I am not going to take it personally.”
Stown said the mural took about a week to paint using aerosol spray cans in the bitter cold and it was meant to generate “a lot of positivity” during the COVID-19 pandemic and he thought that it did so far. But, the mural was barely up a few days before the village issued the summonses.
Stown said he has been contacted by supporters offering to set up a GoFundMe account to fight the village so that the mural can remain in place, but he has declined because he says he has no wish to “strong-arm” the village to allow the mural to stay. “It’s just art, it’s not meant to hurt anybody,” he said.
Originally from Port Washington, Stown, 30, now lives in Bay Shore. He has worked with celebrities like hockey player Jeff Hamilton and Kobe Bryant on projects in the past, and his art has been featured on NBA Playoff jackets, as well as sponsored by the Porche Carrera Cup of France. Other murals of his can be found in places like Unique at the Tri-County Jewelry Exchange in Levittown.
Stown said that the mural could be gone within a few days because the village is pretty adamant about it being covered. A matching fresco painted on a feeling inside the pizzeria will remain, according to Stown.
This article originally appeared on the Port Washington Patch
