Woman Accused of Spray Painting Trains Across Queens

A Sunnyside woman faces up to seven years in prison after being charged with spray painting subway cars throughout Queens over a three-year period.

Danielle Bremner, 27, of 45-50 48th Street has been charged with second-and-third-degree criminal mischief, making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments.

“According to the charges, the defendant is reportedly well known in the international graffiti community – and to New Yorkers who have had to put up with her ego-driven vandalism of public property, which has cost taxpayers thousands of dollars to clean up,” said District Attorney Richard Brown.

Bremner allegedly spray painted her tags “Erin” and “Dani” and other markings on six subway cars between September 30, 2005 and April 7, 2008, causing more than $6,000 in damages. Specifically, she is accused of twice tagging a number 7 subway car at 111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, a 7 car at the Main Street station, an A line car at the Broad Channel station and an F line car at Parsons Boulevard.

While authorizing a court-authorized search warrant at the defendant’s residence in July 2008, police recovered more than 450 cans of spray paint, 50 latex gloves, 10 permanent markers, bottles of acid etch, grog ink, shoe polish, a bolt cutter and pair of pliers.

In addition, police found Polaroid photographs of the tag “Dani,” 52 pieces of paper with graffiti drawings, including the tags “Dani” and “Erin,” and several digital photographs from her e-mail account depicting her tags on trains, including one that shows her spray painting her tag on a non-New York City train.

“Graffiti is a symptom of crime and negatively affects the quality of life for all citizens through decreased property values, increased taxes and a financial burden on affected businesses and homes,” said Brown. “City officials and anti-graffiti activists have done a remarkable job over the years in cleaning up New York City’s image as a graffiti-scarred city. We will not allow one individual to mar the beauty of our city or threaten to return us to the days when our transit system and our highways and buildings were covered with graffiti.”

The investigation was conducted by detectives from the Special Investigations Unit of the NYPD’s Transit Division.