URRG!
So, this weekend was cold and very windy, right? All the leaves fell off the trees on to our block and trash from the main street (5th ave) littered the whole block. I had just swept the steps and sidewalk outside our brownstone on Thursday, but the weather totally blew all the leave off the trees by Sunday.
Today on Monday I receive a fine for having a dirty sidewalk in front of our place! Yes, there were leaves everywhere and yes some inconsiderate dillweeds left a candy wrapper and a cigarette box on the sidewalk, but giving me a ticket before I can even come home and clean up after the storm?? And am I to police everyone who walks by at night and dumps trash??
Almost every other place on our block got a fine. It was crazy. Even this old lady that has lived here forever said that she had cleaned up her place on Sunday morning and after she got home from chirch the place looked the same again.
Can anyone fight this??
pitu Fake Buddhist
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 6489 Location: Utopian Park Slope
Mon Oct 30, 06 7:36 pm EST
I am not messy! wrote:
Can anyone fight this??
you can!
good luck, and do a little googling before.
there's been successful contesting of sanitation tickets; there's been news coverage.
let us know how it goes . . .
Flexichick Windsor Terrorist
Joined: 27 Apr 2006 Posts: 9623
Mon Oct 30, 06 7:43 pm EST
Try it. Include a copy of either the weather report or a story about the wind damage (shouldn't be hard to find) from yesterday.
marie Newbie
Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 17
Mon Oct 30, 06 9:24 pm EST
I say it's a ridiculous scam and a ticketing blitz to meet their f#%$ing quotas. Check out this very recent article (10/23) about the Dept. of Sanitation scam in Bensonhurst. It played all over the network news. The video was so insane. You'd think we live in a freaking third world country and not in the greatest city in the world. Unbelievable!!
Fight it and cite their quota system!! good luck!!
My neighbor got fined several months ago--$50 for each piece of litter in front of her house. I got one for dog crap that I hadn't had a chance to clean up (I don't own a dog, this was someone who kindly left a deposit in front of my gate for my kids to slide through). So the privilege of owning property in NY is cleaning up after slobs, or paying fines for those same slobs. On the other hand......(your recent absurd situation excluded), if we don't clean up, who will? Since many people think it is fine to leave dog waste on a sidewalk for stranger's to track into their homes then it puts the responsibility on SOMEONE or else we will be swimming in crap soon. It does make me want to walk around and litter dirty diapers around town and see how grossed out people will become.
Good luck. I hope you fight and win.
Guest
Tue Oct 31, 06 12:01 pm EST
I got a ticket over the summer for some wrappers that were in the gutter in front of my house. I took a picture of the wrappers, then I removed them and took another picture. I went to the DOS and showed a judge the pictures (I don't know how he kept a straight face). A few weeks later I got a letter saying that I was acquitted. It took me half a day to fight the ticket, but there was no way I was going to pay $150 for garbage someone else threw in the gutter. Am I supposed to sit at home all day waiting for garbage to blow in front of my house so I can pick it up? Can you tell how mad this made me?
babs- Guest
Tue Oct 31, 06 9:33 pm EST
I say - clean up your mess. This neighborhood can get yucky sometimes. They should double fine those businesses on 7th Ave that leave garbage blowing in the street.
escap expatriated
Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Posts: 1189
Tue Oct 31, 06 9:39 pm EST
Most of these cases above sound bogus, but I do wish the people on my corner would clean the ginko fruit off their sidewalk. Every year for like 2 months those damned things just pile up and are never cleaned off, and it's like walking through a pile of crap. I don't expect daily scrubbing or anything, but the occasional hosedown would be nice. Better yet, I wish they'd just uproot those trees and plant something else!!
doctorj Abstruse Goose
Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 2509 Location: Underbilt btwn Carwash and Parking Pl.
Tue Oct 31, 06 9:51 pm EST
escap wrote:
I don't expect daily scrubbing or anything, but the occasional hosedown would be nice.
Make sure they do the hosedown before midnight tonight.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/waterrest.html
Washing Sidewalks, Driveways, Streets:
Prohibited November 1 - March 31, and also during other months from 11 am to 7 pm. _________________ The world will little note nor long remember what we say here. -- Abraham Lincoln
escap expatriated
Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Posts: 1189
Tue Oct 31, 06 10:16 pm EST
doctorj wrote:
escap wrote:
I don't expect daily scrubbing or anything, but the occasional hosedown would be nice.
Make sure they do the hosedown before midnight tonight.
Why are they restricting water use when the reservoirs are at full capacity (above expected for the season)?
I don't think it's because of water conservation in winter months -- it's probably because they're concerned that the water could freeze and make for dangerous, icy sidewalks.
Carnivore Brooklyn Snark
Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 13566 Location: St Johns Pl and Underhill
Wed Nov 01, 06 11:19 am EST
apollonia666 wrote:
I don't think it's because of water conservation in winter months -- it's probably because they're concerned that the water could freeze and make for dangerous, icy sidewalks.
That's dumb. They should restrict the practice when the temperature is below 40 degrees (or some other suitable temperature likely to be associated with freezing temperatures in the near future), not pick some arbitrary dates.
I'm Not Messy Guest
Fri Nov 03, 06 1:34 pm EST
You know, the worst part is that we cleaned up the whole area and the next morning there was a empty bag of chips, a flyer and a few candy wrappers out in front again. You can't win......
Guest
Tue Nov 07, 06 4:32 pm EST
suck it up slopers.
yeah, it's BS but at least the sanitation dept actually deals with your neighborhood, rather than letting it fester.
Guest
Tue Nov 07, 06 5:25 pm EST
Carnivore wrote:
apollonia666 wrote:
I don't think it's because of water conservation in winter months -- it's probably because they're concerned that the water could freeze and make for dangerous, icy sidewalks.
That's dumb. They should restrict the practice when the temperature is below 40 degrees (or some other suitable temperature likely to be associated with freezing temperatures in the near future), not pick some arbitrary dates.
It could be 45 degrees at 5:00pm but drop to 30 during the night.
Wake up!
escap expatriated
Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Posts: 1189
Tue Nov 07, 06 11:02 pm EST
Anonymous wrote:
Carnivore wrote:
apollonia666 wrote:
I don't think it's because of water conservation in winter months -- it's probably because they're concerned that the water could freeze and make for dangerous, icy sidewalks.
That's dumb. They should restrict the practice when the temperature is below 40 degrees (or some other suitable temperature likely to be associated with freezing temperatures in the near future), not pick some arbitrary dates.
It could be 45 degrees at 5:00pm but drop to 30 during the night.
Wake up!
???
Did you dump your boyfriend recently or something, Carnivore?
Carnivore Brooklyn Snark
Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 13566 Location: St Johns Pl and Underhill
Wed Nov 08, 06 4:06 am EST
Anonymous wrote:
Carnivore wrote:
apollonia666 wrote:
I don't think it's because of water conservation in winter months -- it's probably because they're concerned that the water could freeze and make for dangerous, icy sidewalks.
That's dumb. They should restrict the practice when the temperature is below 40 degrees (or some other suitable temperature likely to be associated with freezing temperatures in the near future), not pick some arbitrary dates.
It could be 45 degrees at 5:00pm but drop to 30 during the night.
Wake up!
And it could be 30 degrees in October or April. But hosing the sidewalk is less likely to cause an ice slick on a day in November when the temperature is over 40 than on a day that starts out at 30 in October.
Guest
Wed Nov 08, 06 2:57 pm EST
For “I am not messy!”
I’m a reporter and I’m very interested in hearing more details about what happened if you or any of your neighbors would be willing to share them.
It’s the leaves component of the fine that intrigues me the most (it being fall and all…), so if anyone else who's reading this has had that particular problem as well, I'd love to hear from you, too.
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 5800 Location: boondocks
Thu Nov 09, 06 1:44 pm EST
last 2 tickets i got, someone threw garbage into my front yard. i paid the tickets. I was too cowardly to fight the system.
but after reading the bensonhurts thing and others. i would now fight the system.
News12Brooklyn Guest
Wed Nov 15, 06 11:25 am EST
Hello, would you be interested in contacting us about the sanitation ticket for the leaves. Our number is 718-861-6818 and email is NewsBKLN@news12.com
Cabaki Queen of Kings
Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 347 Location: south slope
Mon Dec 25, 06 1:50 am EST
Gee, I'm really loving Park Slope right now....first I had my paycheck returned to a client because my address "did not exist" last week - and now on christmas eve - my building just got its *third" ticket in 6 months for having trash in front of our building.
Either the mailmen and trashmen really hate me, or im just having bad luck these days.
WTf??
Cabaki Queen of Kings
Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 347 Location: south slope
Mon Dec 25, 06 1:53 am EST
Oh, and does anyone know who's responsibility it is to pay for the ticket if you live in someone else's building?
I'm assuming this is the landlord's responsibility, right, (even though he owns like, a million buildings and movie theatres and lives somewhere in queens?)
armchair_warrior retsop cixelsyd
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 5800 Location: boondocks
Mon Dec 25, 06 1:57 am EST
cabaki let the ll worry about it . none of your business for the tickets. _________________ Fight white guilt and injustice by going to a Native American casino and gamble your money away.
Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 207 Location: Greenwood Heights
Fri Jan 05, 07 8:23 pm EST
A couple weeks ago my friend and I saw two kids deliberately litter on the street when there was a trash can three feet away. We scolded them and made them throw away their trash.
lostingreenwoodhts Where has the day gone?
Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 1437 Location: Greenwood Hts., where else?
Sat Jan 06, 07 8:46 pm EST
Here's the screwed up thing we found out (If I am repeating old news, sorry), someone has to call in yer place (via 311 or directly to DSNY) for the inspector to show up! WTF?!
Got any nasty neighbors?
Hate to throw a conspiracy thing into this, but... _________________ A word or two from the highest point in Brooklyn--Greenwood Hts.
...elevation, not just inebriation...
armchair_warrior retsop cixelsyd
Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 5800 Location: boondocks
Sun Jan 07, 07 11:35 pm EST
that sound like a bad nasty neighbor to have. _________________ Fight white guilt and injustice by going to a Native American casino and gamble your money away.
Hello, would you be interested in contacting us about the sanitation ticket for the leaves. Our number is 718-861-6818 and email is NewsBKLN@news12.com
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OK, then maybe using high powered leaf blowers is too much to ask? 
. none of your business for the tickets.
. save a whole bunch of them :p and send them in lol haha.