Sunday, May 3, 2015

DSNY hunts scavengers


From CBS 2:

Unwanted items are often left on New York City sidewalks for garbage pickup, but turning someone else’s trash into your treasure could land you in trouble with the law.

As CBS2’s Weijia Jiang reported, such scavenging is even costing the city money.

You may not know, but as soon as anything is left on a curb, it becomes the property of the city. It is illegal to grab and go.

CBS2 saw one man allegedly try to do it.

“When the super gave me the authorization, ‘Come pick it up,’ I think it’s no problem,” he said when Jiang pointed out that picking up discarded items is illegal.

Inside the man’s van was a residential microwave, refrigerator and washing machine – all appliances containing metal, police said.

Only sanitation crews or licensed vendors are authorized to take items. When they pick up less, the city loses money.

For that reason, police look for scavengers around the clock.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about arresting the Asians that go through our recycling? We know who they are - the people with the stolen supermarket shopping carts full of bottles.

Why don't the cops get rid of them? They certainly lower the caliber of the neighborhood!

Anonymous said...

At least they are working for their money. The amount of lost income for the City is pittance compared to the amount being stolen by our politicians. As long as they stay off of private property, let them have at it.

Anonymous said...

How about NYC showing the same zeal for busting pimps, madams, smugglers, illegal gambling , drug dealers, etc.
Garbage is garbage. I don't give a shit! Police your own city agencies, Mayor Bill, if you want to really catch major law breakers.

Anonymous said...

This is the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time. People picking up trash before the city does it aren't "thieves". If anything it helps that they are clearing out these unsightly piles overnight. NYC on garbage/recycling day is disgusting.

JQ said...

That the sanitation dept. has a police squad is as absurd as the supposed crime of removing trash from the streets and cashing in on recycling.

And Mayor Big Pussy thinks that some dudes driving vans around recycling day and hauling bales of paper and discarded metal from the properties of this obesely overcrowded city and fining them is going to fund the city and improve quality of living here. These dudes are the elusive criminal masterminds ripping off the city and not the wealthfare bums involved in the hyper-developement and fraudulent businesses like Airbnb flauntingly breaking the residential laws with impunity.

Utter madness. And what about all those people recycling bottles, will they get fined and how the hell are they going to pay them?


Anonymous said...

Reduce, re-use, recycle BUT only if Big Brother sets the rules? Screw that. I'm too lazy to bring in my cans and bottles - so if some entrepreneur want to do it for me and make a few dollars - let them. like wise, if I'm too lazy to have a yard sale and want to give away an old bike or golf clubs - first thing I do is put a curb alert on Craigslsit and it's gone!

Anonymous said...

I don't even think that is legal.
when you throw out garbage it's considered abandoned property. the scavengers are doing a service to homeowners and good for them.

Based on this, if your dog takes a crap on the sidewalk, does the city own it and has to come pick it up?

Anonymous said...

On recycle day in my neighborhood it is like a flea market. We get so many people digging through our trash and recycle stuff it is horrible. They need to come down here and arrest all those mostly male bums that are here like clock work pushing stolen supermarket shopping carts.

Anonymous said...

The aluminum cans and plastic and glass bottles carrying a $.05 deposit become the property of NYC once placed curbside for recycling pick-up.
“Collectors” of these recyclables often “steal” these bottles and cans, redeeming them for the nickel per unit bonanza.
Many times, these “collectors” leave the area near the bags/cans containing their contraband booty, in disarray. This messy area is now subject to fine by DSNY despite the fact that the messy area is the direct result of the theft of property belonging to the City of New York.
These thieves profit while law abiding, property tax paying New Yorkers suffer.
As a property owner, I am subject to a fine for a messy sidewalk that resulted from the theft of property belonging to the City of New York (deposit bottles and cans), on property belonging to the City of New York (the sidewalk).
How is this fair or reasonable?
Rescinding the $.05 deposit on bottles and cans will eliminate the incentive for thieves stealing this highly prized NYC property and will limit the liability of property owners suffering unjust fines as a result of a theft of City property, on City property.
It’s time to recycle the bottle law.

Anonymous said...

Lose this law, Idiot Duh-Blazio. Anyone willing to haul shit off the streets should be given a medal, not a citation.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to anonymous #2. The politicians are robbing everyone. Time for term limits. One term works for me then back to a regular job where you have to work.

Anonymous said...

I call private recycling (picking) free enterprise. Our capitalist system is based upon that.
If I see something out for trash and I can use it, I pick it up. Damned be big brother.

Where is the sanitation police when Flushing's unsanitary Chinese have the sidewalks off Main Street so jammed with trash that you can't walk by?

Of course we must not offend any Asians. Dumping crap is part of their "culture". Of course, dumping campaign contributions in the laps of crooked politicians to look the other way is as American as apple pie. That they've learned well.

Just last Sunday I was walking from College Point Blvd. down a side street to the eastbound tracks towards the LIRR Main Street station.....hoping to grab a tquick rain out of the downtown shit hole.

I passed Peter Koo, of all people. I hoped that mountain of discarded refuse that I had to squeeze past would have fallen in front of him blocking his access.
Oh, but clueless Koo is tired of hearing about his countrymen's filthy habits.

Anonymous said...

This makes no sense to me. I live in Elmhurst, land of the illegally-stuffed-to-overflowing homes and resultant excess trash and constant illegal dumping. I would think that the DSNY would be thrilled to have scavengers haul away large items like furniture and appliances, so they would have more room in the truck to collect actual trash. Scavengers have helped me get rid of big items like bed frames and the metal parts of a church organ; they were gone within minutes of being put out on the curb the night before trash collection, and I'm not even sure if they would have been collected by DSNY even on bulk day. Now, with the no-electronics pick-up law in effect, scavengers provide an even more valuable service. Two large old analog TVs that had been dumped nearby were hauled away by scavengers. Would DSNY really prefer us to call in a special 311 pick-up request for each and every TV that someone dumps on a curb?- how do they have the manpower/time to run out and do that? Ugh, I'm all for scavengers...as long as they take the ENTIRE object and don't just pick it apart and leave junk all over. *As for the bottles, I always separate my deposit bottles from other recyclables, because otherwise people rip holes in the bag and make a huge mess. So far my system of leaving them a bag of just deposit bottles is working- ie, no more holes in the recycling bag.

OGCLE said...

If the city wants to give out sanitation tickets, why not focus on the people who keep their property in a constant state of filth? I'm talking about people who leave litter strewn all over their sidewalks, even nasty stuff like drug baggies and used condoms, and let their weeds grow so high that the sidewalk is practically impassable. And within their front gates, garbage is just strewn all over. Can't the city ticket THESE people? [TIP to DSNY agents: check out Elmhurst!] And how about all the DISGUSTING businesses off Roosevelt Ave and 74th Street- some which claim to be medical offices and restaurants- that ALWAYS have filthy sidewalks and gutters? For heavens sake, leave the scavengers alone- they are helping eliminate curbside trash. If you want to make some money, ticket the people who cannot be bothered to clean up in front of their homes and businesses.

GaryW said...

Modern day serfdom. Do not fish in the Lord's streams, do not hunt his lands, and do not poke through his garbage!!

Anonymous said...

What kind of bullshit is this?

Hey, City Council - instead of decriminalizing public urination, why don't you legalize this instead?

Anonymous said...

How the hell is taking a picture frame costing the city money? Scrap metal I understand, but a picture frame?

Anonymous said...

Tomorrow night that Asian scavenger with his supermarket shopping cart, will be hunting for cans and bottles in my recycling can.

He has even gone into some neighbors side yards to rummage through trash cans.

I've got a dog and a fence around my property.
There is great benefit in being outside the Rickert-Finlay border.
Good fences make for good neighbors.

Anonymous said...

The noise is UNFAIR!!! We pay a lot to live in am apt.and are prevented from sleeping due to inconsiderate scavengers making a racket at all hours. We have the right to health and to be able to perform at work and school! This has to be stopped. They should not be allowed to do this in early morning/late night.