Looking for COVID in all the crappiest places

 

THE CITY 

 As the COVID-19 positivity rate rises across the five boroughs, city scientists are working to get the lowdown on the virus, straight from New Yorkers’ poop.

Unlike many municipalities, New York is testing wastewater for the coronavirus in an effort to trace — and stop — the spread. But experts on sewage monitoring say the city could be using the technology to do more to contain the virus.

Microbiologists working for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection test samples taken twice a week by DEP staff at 14 wastewater treatment plants.

At the plant at Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the largest facility by volume in the city, sampling means walking down four stories to large concrete basins that open to a river of raw sewage.

From there, a worker lowers two empty bottles — held securely inside a contraption made of cut PVC pipe, heavy bolts and a long rope — into the smelly stream, waits for them to fill and hoists them back out to deliver to the DEP’s on-site laboratory.

Still, some experts emphasize those samples are mere drops taken from a waste ocean. Each of New York’s treatment plants treat sewage from more people than the entirety of many smaller cities.

DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza noted the Newtown Creek plant collects the waste of about a million New Yorkers. Even the city’s smallest facilities handle “a couple hundred thousand,” he told THE CITY.

 “The data we collect isn’t that granular. We can’t say it’s a specific neighborhood or a specific block where things may be happening,” he said. “Right now, we’re using the data, sharing it with the health department to say, ‘Hey, there may be something there.’”

At that point, the DEP data hopefully points the health experts in the right direction to then use results from individual COVID tests to further monitor the virus, he added.

Where the most selfish dog owners live

From Brick Underground:

...a report from RealtyHop, which looked at 311 poop complaint data for New York City and other cities. With over 84,000 registered dogs in the city (which the city's Department of Health estimates is just 20 percent of the total dog population), there were 2,458 poop complaints logged in 2017, a decrease from the prior year.

Worst neighborhoods by borough
Average yearly complaint per 10,000 households in 2017

Soundview-Bruckner (the Bronx) 46
Ozone Park (Queens) 20.3.
Cypress Hills-City Line (Brooklyn) 19.1
Mariner’s Harbor-Arlington-Port Ivory-Graniteville (Staten Island) 18.0
Hamilton Heights (Manhattan) 11.5

Cleanest neighborhoods by borough
Average yearly complaint per 10,000 households in 2017

Stuyvesant Town-Cooper Village (Manhattan) 0.8
Brooklyn Heights-Cobble Hill (Brooklyn) 1.0
Co-op City (the Bronx) 2.1
Springfield Gardens North (Queens) 3.1
Grymes Hill-Clifton-Fox Hills (Staten Island) 6.9

Poop continues to flow into Bergen Basin

This has been going on for quite some time now.

This alert can be found here.

Lefferts Blvd station still under repair and covered in poop

From Impunity City:

It’s almost the middle of May, about 6 weeks into the 2nd quarter of 2017, and the notorious tardiness renovating the Lefferts Blvd. station continues unabated and sadly unconcerned by the higher administrative brass and even the thousands of commuters who rely on this heavily populated hub. The stairway and the handicap accessible elevator look complete but are still surrounded by machinery, giant orange thimbles and partition fencing obstructing the majority of the sidewalk. And it’s still causing massive bottlenecks of people exiting and entering the station.

But during my last visit, I happened to meet the curators of the year long fecal art exhibition at the turnstiles.

Lots of crap in Bergen Basin!

"Hi,

Just thought that QUEENS CRAP might be an appropriate addressee for this CRAP.
It is over 719 hours since CRAP first started being dumped in Bergen Basin.
That's just about 30 days.
That's alot of crap!" - anonymous

No more horse poop in sewers

From the Daily News:

The New York Racing Association has agreed to stop dumping water contaminated with horse manure and detergent from the Aqueduct Racetrack into city sewer drains.

The Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office filed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act alleging in 2013 and 2014 the racetrack had discharged more than 1 million gallons of wastewater into the Hawtree and Bergen Basins which ultimately flowed into Jamaica Bay.

An NYRA employee is responsible for making sure there are no discharges of contaminated water into storm drains when horses, wash pads, and manure bins are hosed down. Sixty-two trees will be planted at Belmont Park to help capture storm water runoff.

Scoop the poop at condo and co-op complexes

From DNA Info:

The city plans to close a loophole in its “pooper scooper” law that some say allowed negligent dog owners to avoid fines if they failed to clean up after their pooch in private common spaces — namely huge complexes like Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has introduced an amendment that would close a loophole in the city Health Code by making it a violation for dog owners to allow their pets to “make a nuisance” — fail to pick up after them — on privately-owned sidewalks, lawns and gardens that are used by the public.

That includes housing complexes like Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, where property rules already require cleaning up after your pet, but where the loophole may have made it difficult to actually fine a negligent dog walker the $200 fine a dog owner could get for not cleaning up on a public sidewalk.

Astoria Park potties have been contaminating the East River since the '30s

From QNS.com:

Parents were dismayed earlier this month when they realized that the bathrooms in Astoria Park’s Charybdis Playground would be closed for a second summer due to plumbing problems.

City workers discovered last spring that sewage from the playground and Astoria pool bathrooms had been seeping into the East River since the 1930’s, according to Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.

The discovery was made when construction of a new amphitheater began at the park’s neglected diving pool. Designers working on the project found that pipes from the playground and pool concession were not connected to city pipes, Lewandowski said at the monthly Astoria Parks Alliance meeting on Tuesday.

“The pool and playground were built in the 1930s at a time when people were unfortunately not as environmentally conscious as we are now,” a spokesperson for the Parks Department said.

The Parks Department brought in portable toilets to Charybdis Playground last summer and will do the same this summer. The new bathrooms are not expected to be completed until 2019. Bathrooms at the pool were fixed to ensure the pool could operate last summer, the spokesperson said.

At least Little Bay Park finally got their new potties.

Flushing pigeon house is a big problem

From CBS2:

Residents of a Queens neighborhood said they’ve had enough of the pigeon problem that’s left their street a disgusting mess, but they don’t know who to ask for help.

As CBS2’s Steve Langford reported, residents turned to CBS2’s Facebook Page, saying the pigeons have taken over a house with droppings covering the sidewalk, forcing people to walk on the street, and stinking up the neighborhood.

Dirty sidewalk violations can't be fought

"I have been getting tickets for a dirty sidewalk in Astoria. The tickets are issued by the Dept. of Sanitation and start at $100. If I don't find out about the violation until later (because I don't live at the problematic address) the fine goes into default by the ECB and the fines goes up. If you were to see the sidewalk for this corner property, it looks reasonably clean. I've tried the impossible task of keeping it completely clean but it seems useless. The wind will bring some wrapper or piece of misc. over immediately. I wish someone from the city could witness it. This sidewalk is reasonably clean but it can never be 100% clean. It's also my responsibility 18" into the street. The tricky part isn't getting under parked cars or car tires but dealing with others people's nonsense. I have to dispose of and get the ticket when someone leaves a bottle of warm piss behind. I have to dispose of random bags of garbage dumped from cars. I've had other people's Christmas trees dumped on the corner. And of course, dog dookie.

I feel that I'm not alone. There must be other residential properties targeted for tickets. This is an unfair burden. Tickets may be necessary but they won't make the sidewalk any cleaner. Sanitation officers could probably bring in more revenue if they issued tickets to the offenders that are actually littering. But that job isn't easy. I know about the 8-9am and 6-7pm rule but I am not able to stand guard at those times. I can clean earlier or later than that but I can't make this my full time job. I have attempted to find someone to help using ads with local merchants. I have also tried Craigslist ads. So far, no one affordable is available. I can't pay $50 an hour. As a job it sucks, I know because I'm doing the cleaning. I am requesting some sound advice if Queens Crap can post a blog on this matter. The world wide web of misinformation makes it seems that fewer tickets are written and that the city is only getting cleaner. I haven't been able to locate articles on residential properties with these problems. This is not a Businesses only problem." - Anonymous

_________________________________________________________________________

I tried to assist someone else with just this problem. Unfortunately, I found that it was damn near impossible to mount a defense to these tickets. No proof needs to be offered by the officer issuing the ticket and it's a "your word against theirs" situation that the home or business owner always loses.

An entire report was written about just how unfair this issue is, but our local lawmakers would rather petition the president for terrorist pardons and worry about tampons in schools than pass legislation that would actually help the average taxpayer in this town.

Poop in the water at police academy

From the NY Post:

This academy is not going to win any awards.

The NYPD’s brand-new, $750 million supposedly state-of-the-art Police Academy in Queens now has a water contamination problem —-just months after the building’s high-tech gym floor buckled and needed to be replaced.

Thirsty cops and recruits were handed bottled water on Friday, after officials deemed the building’s water unsafe to sip on, according to documents obtained by The Post.

NYPD Chief Surgeon Dr. Eli Kleinman warned that the water shouldn’t be used for washing dishes or showering either, until a further investigation.

Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins called the situation “troubling” — and said he’d received numerous calls from concerned cops.

“They seemed to think there’s E. coli in the water,” he told The Post.

A bum ride at Jamaica Center

The E- train was sitting in the Jamaica Station for a few minutes as straphangers gathered on the platform. The day 12/10/14 was gloomy with intermittent drizzles. Straphangers appeared un-energetic after yesterday's record breaking all-day rainfall.

The train opened its doors around 9:04 a.m. Slowly, straphangers began boarding. Then, suddenly there was a burst of energy. Straphangers were quickly exiting cars and boarding the next.

This maneuver continued for few cars. I entered to inquire; what a mess, it was: car # 9411 had a brown drainage that looked like feces from diarrhea with a bum at the other end. Another bum was taking-up an entire six-seater. The car possessed a faint scent......

Car #9411 -- shit? & bum

This bum had the car all to himself. Straphangers could not breathe; literally that is.

car # 9412 fully occupied by the one bum.

Car # 9499. He kept scratching, by this time the doors were closing. Straphangers could not escape.

Ms. Velazquez, you are the counsel at the borough president's office; where Melinda Katz is the borough president. Ms. Boranian, you are the liaison. Daneek Miller you are our councilman.

You all have the opportunity to speak to the wise men of the MTA. Please expound the riding conditions to them, on behalf of Queens riders/VOTERS/residents.

This is yet another environment where our health is at risk. Take these bums off our trains. The purpose of MTA is transportation, NOT a shelter.

Furthermore, Jamaica Center is the first station leaving from Queens for Manhattan. The trains ought to be cleaned and disinfected before take off.

As for MTA board member, Mr. Charles Moerdler who believes banning bag backs is the answer, for making more space for straphangers. Well wise guy, you can have these tax payers' spaces for you and your whole family.

Madam Katz, please take a trip on the trains. Experience the shit your constituents have to endure. This is all before a hard day's work.

Team P/J: CleanUpJamaicaQueens.

With development looming, Flushing River may get cleaned

From the Queens Courier:

Councilman Peter Koo and Commissioner Emily Lloyd of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) met deep underground on Tuesday to tour the Flushing Bay Retention Facility, which serves as a storage area for raw sewage and is meant to keep the sewage from entering Flushing Creek, but can only hold so much. The small body of water receives more human waste per year than any other dumping site, according to city records, leading Koo to call the creek “shit’s creek.”

“Cleaning up this waterway has long been a top environmental priority of mine,” Koo said. “There is a popular phrase used by many when trying to explain they are in a bad situation: being up shit’s creek without a paddle. With the amount of raw sewage that still enters it, the phrase might as well be changed to, up Flushing Creek without a paddle.”

With Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that calls for residential development along the Flushing waterfront, Koo and advocacy groups like Friends of Flushing Creek are hoping the spotlight will help spur the city and state to take action and reduce the amount of sewage going into the creek.

“Now that the city has officially announced they are looking to develop the land along the waterfront, this is a great opportunity to shine a brighter light on this longstanding problem,” Koo said. “I will continue my work with DEP, the Friends of Flushing Creek, and every stakeholder in the community so that we can ultimately see the day where people can safely swim in these waters again.”

“Do you know how much human waste that is?” said Alex Rosa, a consultant for Friends of Flushing Creek, which is advocating for the city and state to reduce the amount of filth going into the Flushing bodies of water. “I’ve never calculated how many people you need to make that much waste. But I’m sure it’s a whole lot.”

No, you just need Claire Shulman! And what's with Koo saying the word "shit"? This is conduct unbecoming a council member, no?

Fun with trash

From the Queens Courier:

One Astoria resident is getting a snapshot of what some have called an ongoing problem in the neighborhood.

What started first as a joke in July after the Astorian, who wishes to remain anonymous, noticed she had too many photos of trash on her phone has now become an Instagram account with 111 followers featuring “interesting trash” found on the streets of the western Queens neighborhood.

“Once you start looking for trash in this neighborhood you find a lot,” she said. “It’s not meant to be down on Astoria, it’s just a fun way to show there is a problem.”

The Instagram account called “astoriatrash” includes photos taken by the Astoria local and also submissions from neighbors and other residents, making it what she calls “a community effort.”

Here's something she might have "fun" with:

Notice how it says "no dumping" on the wall, yet clearly several people (or one repeat offender) failed to heed the message.

Stay classy, Queens.

Ozone Park mailboxes need some TLC

From The Forum:

At least two blue US Postal Service mailboxes have become sources of disdain in the communities of Ozone Park and Howard Beach, and the agency pledged to the Forum this week to make them right again.

The mailbox located on the corner of 97th Street and 133rd Avenue in Ozone Park is covered in bird feces, nearly from top to bottom, and a bird carcass was left this week right next to it. The condition of the mailbox and the overpowering area odor have precluded some residents from using it.

“It’s been like this for a long time,” said Joe Fontanes, who has lived a block away from the box for the past 19 years. “Sometimes I’ll walk down 96th [Street] to avoid it.”

Fontanes posited that the culprit is the tree branches above the mailbox.

“It’s not a question of repainting it,” he said. “They’ve got to move it away from this area where the birds nest.”

On Cross Bay Boulevard, between 157th and 158th avenues, sits another blue USPS mailbox covered in graffiti. On one side is a phrase written large in bright-green ink that can’t be repeated in a family newspaper.

A spokeswoman for the USPS said that both boxes will be taken care of as soon as possible.

Queens has a whole lot of poop

From DNA Info:

Not picking up after your pup is a violation of the measure, introduced in 1978, and carries a $250 fine.

But a sanitation officer must witness a violation in order to issue a ticket, according to the Department of Sanitation, so some residents rely on 311 to document discarded poop in their neighborhoods.

Queens had the highest number of complaints over the past four years with 1,409 and Maspeth was the ZIP code with third most complaints in the city.

Rounding out the top 10 were Parkchester and Wakefield in the Bronx, with 109 and 94 complaints respectively, East New York in Brooklyn with 84, the Bronx's Bedford Park with 80 and Ridgewood in Queens with 77.

Filthy Flushing is hard on the eyes

"Triangle at Prince Street, downtown Flushing.

Fetid...

...and filthy!

Then there's the doggy poo about 2 blocks away. What's the Flushing BID been doing?" - The Flushing Phantom

Show a little pride!

Our wanderings reveal more trashification. Last week it was the unsightly, dirty property at 67-70 Yellowstone Blvd. This week it's the corner of Austin St. & Ascan Ave., apparently the permanent home of New Town Grocery's gigantic filthy rag oops we mean awning.

You thought this was Dean & DeLuca, right? Easy mistake to make. We wonder why this has been allowed to remain for so long. There are even apartments right over the awning. Compliments on the view, not to mention the sanitation aspect.

Haven't any nearby businesses complained? What could be better than kicking back with an overpriced glass of wine at Jack & Nellie's on Ascan and a view of the shredded, bird-pooped New Town awning? This might be one of the few instances when yet another Starbucks, eyewear place or hair salon would be an asset as long as we didn't have to look at that ratty thing. The interior of the store further reflects its dignity level.

Hey, we're all for Mom-and-Pop stores, as long as Mom and Pop have some self-esteem.

- Forest Hills Wanderer

DOT to clean pigeon poop from under LIE

From the Forum:

Maspeth’s councilwoman helped secure a new contract that would clean up the crud underneath several underpasses in the area.

City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Maspeth) announced an agreement with the state Department of Transportation honing in on the maintenance of underpasses below the Long Island Expressway on 74th Street and 80th Street in Maspeth. The spots have become nesting grounds for the unsightly things pigeons leave behind, the councilwoman said, but not for much longer.

“These underpasses are used by pedestrians going everywhere from P.S. 58 in Maspeth High School, to Elmhurst Park and the shops on Grand Avenue,” Crowley said in a statement. “This chronic pigeon nesting is a serious public health concern, and I am glad to see the DOT taking the appropriate steps.”

Under the new contract, the underpasses will be washed every three months with the first cleaning set for July, Crowley said. The contract was originally put out in February but was re-let by the state DOT because there was only one bidder.

Crap cleanup campaign to launch in LIC

From LIC Post:

Elected officials are taking steps to help rid Long Island City of its dog poop problem.

Joe Conley, chairman of Community Board 2, said he has received numerous complaints from Hunters Point residents about the amount of dog poop that litters the sidewalks.

He said the community board is in the middle of composing a letter—that spells out the rules and regulations regarding dogs—and sending it to all the major building owners in the Center Boulevard and 5th Street area.

“We will be asking the building owners to notify their residents about the rules,” Conley said.

In the past, Conley said that he has worked with the Department of Sanitation to send agents to dog-poop trouble spots and tickets were issued. He said he does not have plans to do that yet, but may have to if people’s behavior doesn’t change.

Meanwhile, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer has plans to promote a public awareness campaign in Hunters Point through school children.

Van Bramer said he will be holding a “curb your dog” poster competition—where children learn that dog owners are required by law to pick up after their dog and how it’s the considerate thing to do.