Sunday, June 23, 2013

Dunkin Donuts thinks street tree is their property


The Dunkin Donuts on Grand Avenue just east of 69th Street has been using the street tree and tree pit as advertising space for years. I have made several complaints to no avail. This is the biggest sign I have seen there so far. You'd think the Parks Department would do something about it as it should be a fairly easy situation to rectify.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a great idea. RIP IT DOWN AND THROW IT IN THE TRASH. why wait for the city to do it?

Queens Crapper said...

It's the City's duty to enforce these laws, not mine. You rip down property that a storeowner owns and you're looking for an altercation. Not necessary. Hold Parks accountable.

Joe Moretti said...

It definitely is the city's job to see that all laws, especially pertaining to trash/litter/illegal dumping, posting of illegal signs, the parking on streets of cars with no license plates/registration stickers, etc. and enforce those laws and see that the culprits are properly fined. But this is not always happening and when people pick up after others, that let's the city off the hook and the culprits will just continue.

Anonymous said...

The city has such an easy time finding parking violators, but such limited resources to enforce Parks violations.

Anonymous said...

There are business' on Grand Avenue that use public sidewalks to display and sell their goods. Why don't you call them out?

georgetheatheist said...

Again. The cop car goes by and the cops don't see this?

Anonymous said...

Hold Parks accountable.

Yes, but by whom? I am sure that your elected officials fill your inbox as they do mine with frivolous garbage.

They walk by this as you and I do as they jog from one tweeder event to another.

Why doesn't this bother them?

Because they know that they will be reelected, described in glowing terms by the Queens media, and no one will articulate enough to call things like this to their attention during the few dog and pony shows they still hold within their district.

So suffer.

Anonymous said...

These signs are garbage, and should be treated as such. Our taxes pay for those trees - I make it a habit of stuffing signs like those in the trash late at night. The tree is our property. if they want to advertise on it, well, too damn bad for them because the answer is no.

Anonymous said...

Any sign left in a NYC street tree bed or secured to a city-owned street tree (as far as the City Parks department is concerned) has been abandoned by whoever left it there.

Dunkin Donuts no longer owns those signs. They are abandoned property and are therefore now considered garbage and should be treated as such. Anyone may now take them down and destroy them if so inclined.

Hey, we can moan about how we shouldn't have to clean up this crap, about how we pay taxes for other people to clean up this crap for us, and hope that maybe at some point in the future things will change. I used to put myself through this exercise whenever I saw crap like this in my neighborhood and it made me feel lousy.

But you know what? At some point I decided I didn't like feeling lousy, so I started ripping down signs, cutting down signs and cleaning up garbage in my immediate neighborhood. I realized I couldn't do everything, so I set boundaries on where I would go and limits on how often I would do this.

The result is that my immediate neighborhood is now much cleaner and sign free. I have also gotten to know more of my neighbors in the process and now some them do some periodic clean up as well. Demonstrating that you care will inspire people to pitch in.

Yeah, there will be signs that still pop up from time to time and yeah, garbage still shows up but by doing something I make a difference.

Life's too short to wait for the City to clean this crap up. So criticize me. Call me any insulting name you can think of. I don't care. My neighborhood is better with me taking matters into my own hands and I feel good about it.

Anonymous said...

Well the problem is that a lot of people think it's fine and no biggie.. it's just using a tree. If it bugs the majority of the people, then parks dept will get involve quickly.

But they think is a minor issue. Plus how much is the violation summons? Can it beat parking spaces of $125? If it can't, you can see why too. Also many people uses cars and abuse parking time compare to a business using a tree for advertising. So if you have other plates on your hand, which one will you take care of first. I'm sure maybe eventually parks dept will take a look at this..but again to them it's a minor issue so it's on the back burner.

All in all, most people probably don't care about that as they think it's a-ok.. so tell everyone in that vicinity to MAKE SOME NOISE and that will get attn. Otherwise, if it's just annoying just you only, I doubt it will get anything done.

Anonymous said...

Don't patronize this establishment because of it, and tell the management that they are losing your business and why.

If people really cared about this offense, that's what they would do. Unfortunately, most people don't care.

Anonymous said...

It is great to hear there are lots of people who do care and rip them down. Wish there were more. There are still too many who just spend time ane energy passing the buck (i.e. police. sanitation, parks dept, etc).

Joe Moretti said...

I do think the one comment is correct when it concerns your immediate area where you live, sometimes you just get sick of seeing the shit and waiting on the city, so you take matters into your own hands and sometimes it can make a difference when others see it. But at the same time the city and the elected officials have to be held accountable and do their jobs to see that there is a quality of life for all. The bottom line as the one person said MAKE NOISE, LOTS OF IT, OFTEN and LOUD!

Anonymous said...

When Julia Harrison was a council member,
she used to rip down illegal ads on utility poles and curb trees.

If confronted, she showed her city council ID.
Bravo! Julia had balls!

Nobody dared to mess around with CM Harrison!

Anonymous said...

You take it down, they will just put another one up. I took sidewalk flags from the Verizon place next door a while back and they were back the following week. They need to be taught a lesson, and that only happens by getting them fined.

Anonymous said...

My neighborhood is better with me taking matters into my own hands and I feel good about it.
----

This is the stuff that Vallone tells his community - and if you object further, the sense is move if you don't like it.

1.I am too busy to play city hall.

2. I have too little money or time or interest to pay the salaries for politicians and have them expect me to do their job.

The problem is not me, or my community - its them and their failure to do work that benefits me while they focus attention and energies on things that benefits them - all while on my tab.

And if public servants (yea, get used to it people, that is what they are - servants) cannot or will not do their job they should be treated with scorn - and fired.

Anonymous said...

Easier to not vote for them in the first place -caught one doing it in Forest Hills Sunday - Running for Burough Hall- very, very close to candidate

Anonymous said...

There are business' on Grand Avenue that use public sidewalks to display and sell their goods. Why don't you call them out?

Some businesses pay a yearly fee for a permit to display their goods in front of their store.

Anonymous said...

There are folks on this board who have the "We-all-live-in-a-world-of-sh*t-so-why-even-try" mentality.

If that's what you believe okay, but realize it's a CHOICE.

If you're not calling 311, it's a choice.

If you're not calling or writing to your elected officials, it's a choice.

If you're not out ripping down signs yourself, it's a choice.

If you're not contacting (in this case) Dunkin Donuts to complain directly to the offenders, it's a choice.

If you're doing nothing but whine here on this board, it's a choice - a choice you have made about how to spend your precious time.

Other people have made other choices. It wouldn't surprise me if they're a lot happier then those who do nothing but complain about sh*t on the Internet.

And by the way, I don't recall anybody excusing politicians or public servants from doing their jobs. I'd just rather not have to look at sh*t all the time while waiting for things to change around me.

Anonymous said...

What happens when you rip down a sign and the NYPD is called that you are stealing and destroying property?

I picked up real estate sandwichboards off the street and was handcuffed for it. True story.

Another time I was taking signs off telephone poles and the person who hung them drove by in a truck and threatened me.

I don't blame people for wanting to go through the proper channels to get rid of signs. It's not worth an assault charge.

Anonymous said...

Blah, blah, blah, I love my neighborhood more than you, blah, blah, blah, you're a bunch of wimps. I'm betting none of these people went over there and took the sign down after all the chest thumping they did on this board over how tough they are.

Anonymous said...

ripped down over a hundred illegal signs and counting - no one has ever threatened me, no police have ever questioned what i am doing. i only take down signs that are obviously illegal (junk cars, we buy houses, etc.). those are the bulk of them. i'll keep on rippin'! also, the junk cars and we buy houses signs are put up by different pairs of roving guys in vans or trucks who don't stick around. they put them up and move on (i've seen them a few times in the past). to them it's just a job. i doubt they live wher they put them up so i don't worry about confrontations.

Anonymous said...

http://www.qgazette.com/news
/2013-06-26/Front_Page/
Can_NYC_Keep_Astorias_
Streets_Clean.html

favorite barf line:

Our wonderful Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. was contacted by me on two different days and the staff promised to contact the Department of Sanitation (DOS) to clean up the mess.

Bottom line, once we all become Vallonians in November that entire borough can have clean streets like Astoria!

Queens Crapper said...

Hey folks, if it makes you feel good to do the job of the city agencies that your tax dollars fund, then by all means, keep doing it. I'd rather push for accountability.

Anonymous said...

the City shoudl let the Traffic goons write summons. they are always parading up and down grand trying to ticket the vehicles - so why not the store owners who clutter up the sidewalks or post signs illegally. that would rid the problem very quickly

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