Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced new legislation Thursday that would place the responsibility for cleaning up graffiti on the city.

The new bill would give the city authority to remove graffiti free of charge from public and private properties alike, unless property owners indicate they want to keep the murals or remove them themselves.

So far this year, Bloomberg's graffiti removal crews have cleaned an estimated 2.5 million square feet of space at nearly 4,000 sites.

AP reports have contributed to this article.