[pastoralia]

Has anyone seen this guy? He's white, got a slight build, knobby knees, usually wearing a large gardener's hat?

This past weekend I was walking back from the gym and he was going to every street post and tearing down people's Stoop Sale signs. What's the deal? I was going to confront him but I was already late and he has the sort of weasely little face that makes you immediately dislike him. He walked up 7th street between 6th and 7th Ave. I'm not sure if he lives there or was off to rip down other people's signs.

And these were for stoop sales that were currently happening... this really pisses me off. What gives him the right? If a cop comes and rips a sign down because it's illegal to be on city property- that's one thing (and they have better shit to do than waste time doing this) but when some one man army thinks he knows what's better for all of us-- that's F'd up.

[Obamanut]

That guy's been doing that on 7th Ave for as long as I can remember. He does it to all postings, not just stoop sales. I think he may be mentally ill.

[modsquad]

He's old right? I've seen old people in Soho and Union Square doing the same thing. Must be a cult.

[daver]

There was a thread here awhile back where someone was annoyed by them and ripped them down, but I don't think it was in Park Slope.
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"It's only as boring as you make it."

You're making me want to poke my eyes out with a spoon. Stop that.

Bringing the term thin-skinned to a whole new level!

[J0518]

I once saw someone really get in his face on the corner of Park Place and 7th over a sign he ripped off.

I don't quite know how I'd react if he did that to me. Maybe the ol' Cuban temper would show up.

[ParkslopeCynic]

Guess What! This guy does a public service. it is flatly illegal to post on public property and i'm not interested in all that junk (which usually ends up as- "free stuff") trying to be pawned off. (nor in the millionth "lost cat").
Rip away!

[Brooklyn Baby Daddy]

[possibly_maybe]

[prezst]

the best signs are written in chalk on sidewalks.

[J0518]

[Underhill_MT]

Since when did a community plea for help finding a lost cat or a friendly notice about a stoop sale constitute a public nuisance? Sheesh. If the signs were getting plastered on peoples' front doors it would be a problem (much like the multitude of menus and car service business cards that get shoves in our doors every day), but some 8 1/2 x 11 posters?
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Be the change you want to see in the... neighborhood.

[homeowner]

Okay, so here's the deal. It is illegal to post any signs (commercial or not) on public property (which includes lamposts). For commercial signs (including campaign posters) there is a ridiculous fine per sign if you are caught. For non-commercial postings, the city usually turns a blind eye, but at best you are subject to having sanitation or some other city entity (or crazy old guy) rip them down.

Learned this the hard way, working on a political campaign where volunteers plastered the neighborhood lamposts. The opponents volunteers then called sanitation to report the act and we were told to remove all signs by the time sanitation sent out an inspector or be subject to the fine per sign (I want to say it was something like $100 per sign). Needless to say, I've kept my flyering to private business willing to hang signs since then.

[pastoralia]

Well...having the DEP come and take down political posters is...well, political (reminds me of season 4 of the wire when the mayor tickets, rips up the sidewalk, and generally uses the city to harass his opponent).

But stoop sale signs handmade by some kids or a family...this is what police are gonna care about? Not likely. Who is it hurting? I've made great friends with my neighbors during stoop sales...neighbors who I probably would have only given a cursory nod to otherwise. I think making friends with strangers is a better community service than keeping lampposts clean on the weekend.

I'd love to confront this guy but then I fear the police would get involved because I'd lose my temper with his obstinate self-righteousness.

[ljnd]

Wonder if the guy is OCD or autistic - maybe he NEEDS to take the signs down, for his own neurological reasons.

[MeredithB]

[Ahab]

I wonder if I can get him to rip down all the new parking signs.

[Ahab]

[Brooklyn Baby Daddy]

[Livetotravel]

The guy in question lives on 8th Ave, just North of Dizzy's. He is obviously a mentally challenged person, but otherwise a harmless and non-threatening individual.

I, too, think he does a public service - only because the people who feel free to put the posters up never take them down. And what better life lesson to teach those children who hand-make the posters than the value of cleaning up after yourself
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But that's impossible.

http://unratedunfiltered.com/

[metalnyc]

Now, does he throw them out? Maybe he has a collection in hopes that one day they will be worth millions.

Or maybe not.

[petebklyn]

I think it is great he is doing it.
It is the people that put them up that should be criticized and confronted.
It is illegal and city spent plenty of money trying to fix up 5th avenue and smith street and the sign posters deface it. THey have to repaint the lightposts because the tape often mars them.
I take them down from Smith street any time I pass them.

[quig]

I saw him a couple of Fridays ago..

I tried to reason with the guy saying that stoop sales are one of the great things about Brooklyn. "It's illegal," was his response.

I'd wish he'd dial up his meds so it wouldn't bother him so much. Or, do it on Mondays, then everyone will be happy.

[Brooklyn Baby Daddy]

Well, I guess we don't all see eye to eye on this one. As I've said, a town without home-made signs seems to me kind of sterile and lifeless. But, hey, at least we'd have lovely, virgin lamp posts.
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I am an editor, married to a school teacher, and we live in Park Slope. We are parents. I talk about this at http://www.brooklynbabydaddy.blogspot.com/

[petebklyn]

I'm sure it isn't your 'quaint' stoop sales signs being singled out ...but the moving company, carpet cleaning, etc, etc, etc - That get plastered everywhere.

[Garfunky]

A bunch of years ago, the NoHo community got fed up.
Suddenly a bunch of Bands got fined for putting up a gig poster on Bleecker St.

While i think it stupid, technically the gardener dude is right.
i certainly didnt appreciate it when i saw him tear down posters for instruction. But i figured that was better than the police actually fining myself and everyone else . And once he was gone i put up more anyway

[quig]

Nope, he takes a scorched earth policy with flyers.

The part that gets me is that he was doing it on a Friday. He just had to show up those stoop sales.

[Peanuts]

It is illegal to post signs on lamposts/etc. - Once when I was posting signs for some items for sale because I was moving, a guy approached me and asked if I was going to take them down after they were sold...I said I was, and I did. So, even though it's "illegal" - I have no problem with the signs...but I do think folks should take them down once their sale is over.
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Peanuts

[pastoralia]

I always take down my signs...it's part of the contract for me. I don't think this guy has a mental problem, I think he's an asshole.

If he was a decent fellow and he HAD to take them down- he could do it Sunday evening after the sales are over. Someday he's going to rip down the wrong person's sign and see what real mental problems are like.

[kosherdave]

[Alicia A]

Some stores will let you put a stack of flyers in them.

[ParkslopeCynic]

The point is people repeatedly post this lost cat appeal. When will owners learn some responsibilty and keep their cat indoors- where they belong!

[caseopele]

Yeah, signs on lamposts are just awful. They ruin the neighborhood, thank the baby jesus someone is doing something about this scourge afflicting PS residents.

/sarcasm
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A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope and be free. -Nikos Kazantzakis

[kosherdave]

[Nuclear Redaction]

This guy doesn't try to wipe out the notices people write on the sidewalks with chalk, does he? 'Cause I'm planning a sale this weekend and will probably publicize it that way rather than with fliers.
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To have ambition was my ambition -- Gof4

[ParkslopeCynic]

Chalk away, that's ok in our book!

[superjonbot]

[daver]

[Hamilton]

[quote="Nuclear Redaction"]This guy doesn't try to wipe out the notices people write on the sidewalks with chalk, does he? 'Cause I'm planning a sale this weekend .

******************************
No he just changes the address's

[witch-king]

this has the makings of a great mystery. where will the park slope ripper strike next?
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your anger is delicious. - dieter

[concernedsister11215]

The man that you refer to – the man that pulls down signs in Park Slope – is my brother.

To answer your questions and (hopefully) put an end to the debate here, I’d like to clarify a few things about him.

First: my brother is, indeed, autistic. Thank you to the poster named “ljnd” who recognized this as a possibility.

As a child, my brother displayed all the classic signs – signs that would be recognized and treated today. But it was the early seventies, and my mother couldn’t get a definitive diagnosis – much less a straight answer – from any of the various pediatricians, psychologists, or specialists to whom she brought him for help. He wasn’t diagnosed until he’d reached his late teens – significantly late in the developmental processes affected by the disorder.

No one really understood him, but everyone had something to say. I’m five years younger, and I was asked all the time if he was “retarded.” I stuck up for my big brother with all my might – even though I didn’t fully understand him myself.

Some things, at least, have changed. “Autism” is now a household term, children are diagnosed and treated early, and most people show a great deal of compassion for families living with all its heartbreaks.

I ask for your compassion today. Compassion for families living with autistic adults who did not receive treatment when it could have made a difference. Compassion for my mother – a retired senior citizen who is worried sick after reading – in the Brooklyn Paper – that people are “hunting” down her son. Compassion for me – a young woman who still fights for a brother she’s never been able to hug. And compassion for my brother, too. He does not pose a danger to himself or others. He does not pull down signs to hurt people, to be an “asshole” or a “killjoy,” or to ruin people’s stoop sales. He does it because he believes in the rightness of a tiny little law meant to keep public property clean. He finds some comfort in upholding that law in Park Slope – the neighborhood where he grew up, the neighborhood where he’s spent his entire life.

I wish he didn’t care about that law. My mother wishes he didn’t. And many of you wish he didn’t. But he does, and I ask you to please leave him be. Please post your signs (as the law does, after all, require) on the private bulletin boards available in local businesses. I have specifically asked my brother to make an exception for signs for lost pets, and he abides by that limitation.

If you know anything at all about my brother (physical description, etc.), please refrain from posting such identifying details online, where they will become available to those that apparently wish to do him harm.

I have tried, here, to appeal to your sense of compassion. But for those that are unmoved, I also feel compelled to note that I am an attorney. If my brother is harmed – in any way whatsoever – I will pursue all available legal avenues to vindicate his rights. I will never stop fighting for my big brother.

If you wish to contact me, you may reach me at: concernedsister11215@yahoo.com.

[possibly_maybe]

I'm not sure you need to threaten people with legal action after your appeal for our understanding and acceptance of what your brother is doing, but I, for one, appreciate your post regardless.

I suppose I can see how you'd be so concerned for his safety when so many people are so fired up about his behavior, but really, it would take a real asshole to be upset at him, individually, after this explanation.

I just took a read of the article on the Brooklyn Paper's website, and sure enough, it seems quite sensationalist. I'm pretty sure no one is "hunting" him down, and I'm pretty sure no one is going to physically harm another for simply removing postings, no matter how wound up they are about it.

[daver]

[concernedsister11215]

Thank you for your post, possibly_maybe.

I struggled with whether or not to include that last bit about legal action. It was meant only for those, as I said, who remained unmoved by my plea for compassion and understanding. It was meant only for those who seemed intent on "confronting" my brother on the street. It was not meant for those -- like you -- who can understand the first part of the message.

My brother is my only sibling, and I want to protect him.

Thank you again for understanding.

[Underhill_MT]

I asked your brother 2 weekends ago very politely why he was taking down the signs posted on a lamppost as I walked by him on Park Pl (well into PH, BTW) and he said quietly, "Because." I figured something was amiss, so I kept walking.

I understand there is a good portion of the autistic adult community that is able to live an independent life. Your brother might very well fall into that category. However, I'm sure not everyone is as polite as I was when I asked him why he was taking the signs down. I happened to not be one of the sign posters (this time), and had no vested interest in the subject. But, if a sign-poster confronts him and they get only a one word answer, a confrontation cold ensue. Is there any way a companion or care taker could accompany him on his walks? I'm sure it would make strides toward preventing any "harmful" consequences for your bro. Just someone to explain the situation, perhaps? Not every member of our community reads this board and has seen your post.
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Be the change you want to see in the... neighborhood.

[filmlover44]