Saturday, March 7, 2015

An interesting idea for snow problem


From WPIX:

As New Yorkers begin to dig out from the latest snowstorm—property owners beware.

The Sanitation Department issued more than 10,000 tickets this winter to homeowners who failed to clear snow and ice from sidewalks.

“It’s frustrating because really it’s all about making money,” said Councilman David Greenfield of Brooklyn.

Greenfield proposed a measure in the city council that would increase the fine for delinquent property owners, using that revenue to pay for city workers to clear sidewalks.​

Under the plan, the city would hire more seasonal employees to do the job and stick property owners with a bill of $250 or more dependent on the size of the property.

“Some people have gotten 33 tickets in recent years, how does it help you if you’re a neighbor to know that your neighbor got 33 tickets, but you’re still slipping and falling on their ice,” Greenfield said.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

We can call it Deblasio's army, in exchange for city jobs his soldiers will vote for him constantly and of course multiple times

LibertyBoyNYC said...

"Seasonal laborers"...is that what I should call those poorly-dressed **non-local** men walking around with shovels late on snow days?

G.M.N said...

Paying taxes for services that ultimately makes you end up paying more money. Double whammy.

Anonymous said...

They haven't issued nearly enough tickets in Queens!

We have a bullshit kiddie daycare - a universal pre-K, no less - getting govt funding - that has consistently failed to shovel a large corner property at 164th and Bayside Lane.

Tried to report it was informed by 311 that the DOS was not taking any additional complaints - they were overwhelmed!!! Really?

There are also tons of rental houses and empty houses on the market for which the owners do zip maintenance!!! Fine the shit out of them!

Anonymous said...

So is he trying to eliminate fines for lazy millionaire home owners who don't shovel? Or just increase fines for properties where no one ever shovels (properties that are usually foreclosed on and the city will never see a time in fine money from)?

Either way, cry me a fucking river. Shovel your fucking sidewalks or sell and move to florida. Property in this town is selling at prices where a sensible home owner can sell and retire early elsewhere and not deal with this city or it's shitty climate...

Anonymous said...

This CITY will get you all the time.....I would like to know who gets the ticket when it's city property such as bus stop, train station, etc, etc.....

Anonymous said...

“It’s frustrating because really it’s all about making money,”

Anonymous said...

It's all about the money is this town. Why not use the able-bodied homeless from all the shelters opening up and make them shovel to earn their keep. Make the people who can't shovel (elderly, sick) register with the city, so when it snows, the city will send out people to shovel for them. Oh, and let's not forget all the illegals on public assistance. Why pay these people for services rendered? They are already getting paid by the taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

If they ticketed homeowners like they ticketed car owners on alt side parking days, maybe some people would actually shovel.

Don't like tickets? Shovel.

Don't shovel and I fall outside of your house? You can bet you're going to be paying way more than the price of a ticket.

Anonymous said...

Instead of ticketing the struggling taxpayers, why not make the welfare recipients and homeless shovel to earn their keep? Granted, you should shovel in front of your house, but what about the elderly and handicapped? This service would help them out tremendously. Why cant the welfare recipients shovel all the city properties and bus stops? Remember, welfare to work?

Anonymous said...

I still don't understand how the city expects to ever collect money from these delinquent property owners. They can give them a bill for shoveling instead of a fine, great, but what does it matter if the property owners will not pay? There is property near my house that is NEVER shoveled. After every snowstorm, the city tacks a notice on the door, but I assume it just blows away. Unless the owner decides he wants to sell, he will probably never pay these fines, and he will never pay the bills for shoveling.

Anonymous said...

I know someone who actually signed up to help the city shovel this winter. He reported that they are paid by the hour, and he noticed that some of his fellow workers were, er, working very slowly. The hourly rate isn't high. Thus,I imagine many shovelers will try to stretch out the work to as many hours as they can, and guess who pays for that? *I say, if you have a neighbor who doesn't shovel, just shovel it yourself. Otherwise, you will end up paying for the job in the long run. And hey, you get to burn more calories.

Anonymous said...

I reported every house on my block every single day that didn't shovel, or didn't shovel enough and left a good sheet of ice. I hope they all got tickets.

"Make the people who can't shovel (elderly, sick) register with the city, so when it snows, the city will send out people to shovel for them."
Right. So that every lazy lard ass that already doesn't shovel can claim they're old or handicapped and get free shoveling service. No.

"Paying taxes for services that ultimately makes you end up paying more money. Double whammy."
Huh? No. That's like complaining you pay taxes for police salary then complain when you get a ticket because you already paid your taxes.

"I still don't understand how the city expects to ever collect money from these delinquent property owners. They can give them a bill for shoveling instead of a fine, great, but what does it matter if the property owners will not pay? There is property near my house that is NEVER shoveled. After every snowstorm, the city tacks a notice on the door, but I assume it just blows away. Unless the owner decides he wants to sell, he will probably never pay these fines, and he will never pay the bills for shoveling."
The city needs to put a lien on those properties where the homeowner doesn't pay their fines so they can't just sell it and walk away from those fines, just like if you don't pay your parking tickets, you can't re-register your car.

Anonymous said...

Puh-leez-- except for little old widows anyone who owns a home should clear their walk, and if this idea get the sidewalks cleared, well and good. Not all homeowners are millionaires and not all homes are million-dollar items. My pet peeve is the street plows going thru and leaving mountains of snow along the curbs-- including bus stops. Whose responsible for clearing those-- I'll wager not the MTA! It's horrible for bus customers; you either have to climb over Everest as the bus arrives, or stand way out in the street, which can be dangerous. What's the solution?