Sunday, November 2, 2014

Frustration over illegal signs

From the Queens Chronicle:

Street spam is all over Northern Queens and there’s nothing appetizing about it.

Also known as vertical litter, street spam is illegal signs glued to utility poles, bridges and other public areas. Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) wants something done about it.

In a survey made by his office, a total of 150 signs and stickers were discovered in Braunstein’s district. “They are insulting and trash our neighborhoods,” the assemblyman said. “And once they are on your radar, you can’t help but notice how many there are.”

He reported the locations to the Department of Sanitation and so far is happy with the agency’s work to remove them. Officials at Sanitation tell residents not to take down the signs themselves, but to call 311. The city then notifies the agency to photograph the location, remove the sign and try to fine the perpetrator.

But collecting fines can be problematic. According to Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam, a website dedicated to the removal of the illegal signs, many of the perpetrators use unlisted mobile phone numbers, called bandit numbers, and are hard to trace.

If the signs are placed too high or the adhesive is too strong to remove, Sanitation refers the locations to the Department of Transportation or the MTA if a train trestle is involved.

Dave Fischer, spokesman for Braunstein, said he is following up with the DOT on removals. Fisher added that the worst offender is “cars for cash” signs, “which are everywhere throughout the city.”

Braunstein believes Sanitation is doing its best to remove the offending signs with limited resources. He wants to lean on City Council members to get involved in the issue and possibly conduct a sting to locate and fine the offenders.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Car for Cash is a terrorist organization! Can't anyone figure that out ? Where is the money going?

Anonymous said...

Bought a can of silver spray paint. When i see them i spray over whatever i cant peel off. Shake well!

Anonymous said...

I think these people are snubbing their noses at our neighborhoods and NYC agencies (DSNY, NYPD, etc.). I love the idea of a sting operation. If we can't ID the persons responsible for these signs, how about confiscating the tow trucks that pick up the cars unless they provide names and addresses! Let's all push our politicians and law enforcement agencies to do something NOW!

Anonymous said...

Another example of your government failing you on so many levels. Braunstein thinks the city is trying? I think Ed needs to find a new job.

Joe Moretti said...

"He wants to lean on City Council members to get involved in the issue and possibly conduct a sting to locate and fine the offenders."

---------------
This is where the city fails every time, City Council. Talk about DOB, City Council does jack shit, especially when it comes to quality of life issues. Sure something can be done about this, like a sting operation and confiscate vehicles involved, but that require work and someone actually doing something.

Sure it takes manpower and the famous excuse "we don't have enough manpower". So your options are do something or do what you have been doing NOTHING, and continue to have people do what they want because they know they can because the City will do nothing.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Liu get away with posting all those campaign signs five years ago? He didn't pay any fines, did he?

Anonymous said...

"Every country has the government it deserves."
Joseph de Maistre

In our case every borough gets the "Crappy" government it deserves. Whether you like it or not Queens is always being crapped on and the sheeple like it or they would vote the bums out.

Anonymous said...

"He wants to lean on City Council members to get involved in the issue"

The only concern of the city council is making sure illegal aliens are treated better than citizens, and to build "affordable housing". Any real issue (like this one) that needs to be addressed is ignored.

Anonymous said...

possibly conduct a sting to locate and fine the offenders.

What's so hard about calling the number, telling them you have a 2009 Acura (or whatever make/model happens to be most desirable), and when they show up to buy the car, arrest them? Seems pretty simple.

Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to take pictures of these signs and send them with the street locations to NYPD and Dept of Sanitation. Also everyone should call these numbersrepeatedly and hang up to annoy them, as much as they annoy us!

Anonymous said...

This is a case for the Sanitation Police. I would imagine if they all worked 10 pm till 6 am for a few weeks,they would have a good chance at finding these Asshats.

Anonymous said...

Simple: STING OPERATION. Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

Its really easy, guys.

Just report the sign to the DoS on the 411 website: enter the loaction and what the sign is, and submit.

You will get a confirmation email that they are working on the case.

A few short days later, you will get another email saying the issue was addressed, and the case was closed.

All you have to do then is go outside and see that the sign they said they took care of is still there.

See? Its that easy!!!

Post a Comment