Sunday, July 5, 2015

State bill outlaws most clothing bins

From the Queens Chronicle:

A state bill aimed at eliminating clothing collection bins from fake charities and introduced by Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) has been passed by both houses of the Legislature.

The measure, which prohibits placing bins on public property, goes a step further than city law by forcing the owners to disclose whether they are operated by a nonprofit group or a for-profit business.

In addition, the owner must reveal whether a bin is operated by a for-profit business partnering with a nonprofit group, a practice known as rent-a-charity.

The owners are subject to fines of up $500 for violations and must meet maintenance requirements.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

GET RID OF THEM ALL!

Anonymous said...

Big deal, The City Council should be doing something about the food carts that are littering OUR streets in Queens. I guess clothing bins are safe for the council to go after.

Anonymous said...

This is a State bill. But your right the City Council should be doing something about food carts.

Anonymous said...

And even the private landlords think they're doing a good thing by allowing these companies/charities to put clothing bins in their parking lots, but in many cases they take parking spaces away and become an eyesore when they start to overflow, which encourages more dumping. Pretty soon about a quarter of the spots will be taken up by commercial vehicle owners who are (renting?) spots in CVS/Rite Aid/Waldbaum's/Raindew lots and the overflowing clothing bins.

Anonymous said...

They will make it illegal and there won't be any follow thru or enforcement so what does it matter?

Anonymous said...

that's progress but fines should be much larger. any company that dumps these bins around can easily afford a $2,000 fine so they can't claim hardship.

i also think the whole idea of these bins being potential health and safety hazards should be taken into account. as abandoned property out in the open and unattended, these bins invite vandalism and disposal of toxic chemicals. heck, someone could even set one on fire (or WORSE!).

Anonymous said...

There are an estimated 15,000 illegal clothes bins on the sidewalks of Queens alone. How did the city allow this to get so out of hand? Which agency/agencies weren't doing their job???

Anonymous said...

15,000 bins? Where's that number from? I don't see that number. Nevertheless, they provide a service-- if the tons of unwanted clothes don't go to them, they'll just get dumped somewhere else. Anyone who uses them doesn't care whether it's a charity or not-- they just want to unload clothes that have piled up in their space.

Anonymous said...

Where did people put them before they had these bins? They either bagged them for DSNY to pick up or called a charity to pick them up. These bins don't provide a service, and considering the condition most of them are in, I can't imagine they turn a profit either.

Anonymous said...

Many of these dumpsters are being used to fund drug and terrorist organizations. In my neighborhood of Corona, we had about 20 of them just in a 3 block radius! Only 6 of them remain after the city took the others away last year. 2 of them sat in a supermarket parking lot.

Anonymous said...

http://ogcle.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-part-of-more-cloths-don-you.html

Here's a photo of the former site of a bin, which was removed a few weeks ago. As you can see, people continue to dump their clothes here. Do they not notice that a bin is no longer present?

Anonymous said...

It's heartening that so many people would rather give their old clothes to charity than throw them in the trash.

I'd rather my old clothing get sold by a for-profit than go to a landfill.

Reality Check said...

Anonymous, it doesn't matter that that's what you would rather happen if what you want is done by dumping is on public streets.

Anonymous said...

If they are selling for profit, then the city has every right to prohibit them from using public space for their boxes. These "charity groups" file as non-profits so they must follow the law. Otherwise void their tax exemption certificates.

Anonymous said...

just leave your porn in them, that would send a strong message they are not wanted