THE NEED TO TRASH SANITATION

Fliers; hanging on your doorknob, attached to the railing of your stairs, on the stoop, on the lawn. Good grief! Sanitation tells me that I am responsible for recycling the paper litter that is placed on my property or I will receive a fine. Oh, yes, I have gotten fined for dumping the plastic bag of fliers in my regular garbage. They will even go through my regular garbage to see if these fliers are there. Not only do I have to recycle these unwanted advertisements but also separate the plastic bag from the papers.

Has New York City come up with a solution to the littering? Oh sure; they passed a law which states that you must post a sign which is not less than 5 inches by 7 inches in size and which states in legible letters at least one inch in size: “Do Not Place Unsolicited Advertising Materials On This Property”!

Has that made a difference? I have two signs, side by side, sitting in my front window. Just this morning alone, I opened my door to find a flier on the doorknob and a bag of fliers on the stoop.

But, let’s go back to last week when I received two dreadful bags. There must be some assumption that I have someone living in my basement as bags are now placed sort of between my property and my next door neighbors…there is a set of shared stairs that leads to our basement door. As if the bags of circulars weren’t enough, there were a few things from local stores attached to my stairs, and two more things placed in my mail slot.

I first called the local Post Office to report this offense. Yes, it is a federal offense to put anything through a mail slot or even in your mailbox if it does not have postage. After providing the names of the companies, the P.O. requested that I place them in an envelope with a note to the postman to bring it in! Easy. No cost to me. I hope they follow through!

I now call 311 for assistance. They basically do no more than take down my name, address, etc. to send me a form to fill out. I could have done this online. I asked for the phone number of the Sanitation Dept. to report this and told that they were not allowed to give out that number. I have yet to receive the forms. I went online and printed one out.

Here is what line number 6 states. “On____, 20__, at___am/pm, I personally observed on my property unsolicited advertising materials (describe specific location of where material was found), in the form of (menu, pamphlet, bag of flyers, etc.) and which contains the name of ____on such written solicitation”.

I am quite busy with writing articles, preparing and airing my radio show (Whirl With Merle on www.blogtalkradio.com), my blog site (www.merleswhirls.blogspot.com) , etc. There are just times…oh yeah, the weather… that I do not leave the house for a few days! When I do I find the garbage building up.

Here is what line number 7 states: “I have attached the original unsolicited advertisement material to this complaint form in its entirety and in its original form, including any materials that were packaged together.” I did finally get to talk to the Operations Dept. of Sanitation who said that it was my responsibility to pay for the postage!!! One form for each advertiser.

I called V.A Distributions re the flyer bags. The manager was not available. I told the person whom I did speak with about the law and that I intended to make it a point to have a fine imposed on them. She asked for my address. I said, “What difference does that make? It’s your responsibility to abide by the law and tell your staff to look for the signs.” I asked for their address and they gave me a P.O. Box in Elmwood, NJ.

After this morning’s delivery, and lots of insistence, I was given the phone number of Enforcement. I wanted someone from the Sanitation Dept. to come to my home, view the crap, take notes and do their job. I spoke with Lieutenant Diaz and told that I had to go along with what the form stated and cannot have someone go to my home. He blamed the City Council for passing the law. I asked him about my having to fork over money for the postage and told that he gets boxes of these advertisements each day.

Now, doesn’t that make you wonder if they are actually fining these people? I mean, if they were, don’t you think the companies (especially the distribution ones) would make it a point of checking to see if they were in violation? If fines are being imposed, are they paying? Think of how much revenue the city can receive if the fines were not only imposed but also collected. Considering the amount of negligence, we may be able to keep both of the Queens hospitals open.

My last straw was calling my council person. My call was never returned due to a busy schedule, but gave me a telephone appointment in March. Kathy, the person I spoke with, asked for my address. She said that she lived nearby and knows the guy who does the deliveries, suggesting that she would tell him not drop off the garbage. He walks around with headphones and obviously does not make any attempt to see if there are any signs. I said that I did not want her to say anything to him asking if she would interfere in my behalf if I were given a fine for littering. She just didn’t get it. Instead of allowing the wrong doers to deal with the consequences, she thought that she was doing me a favor.

One more insult to add. If the culprit pleas “not guilty”, you have to take your butt to a hearing with the ECB (Environmental Control Board) and “in some instances the ALJ (Administrative Law Judge)may need to adjourn the matter to a future date. This will require you to come back”. If they don’t show, they are at default. Wait! “the respondent may be entitled to a new hearing. If this is the case you will be notified by ECB on how to proceed.”