AM I MY BROTHER'S SWEEPER?
Ah, the joys & horrors of home ownership in New York City!
I feel this woman's pain.
When litterbugs attack, N.Y.C. makes homeowners pay
By DOLORES PRIDA
The day I closed on the purchase of a beautiful, if somewhat rundown, brownstone in East Harlem 16 years ago was a special occasion for me. Not only had I had finally achieved the pinnacle of the American Dream, but also become the first member of my immigrant family to ever own a home.
Little did I know that from that day on, I would become my brother's sweeper - and my sense of pride would get a, well ...trashing.
Nobody had bothered to tell me that homeowners are punished for the debris passersby leave in front of their homes - both on the sidewalk and on the street, up to 18 inches from the curb.
When, a few weeks after moving in, the first pink slip charging me with a violation for "failing to sweep" my sidewalk was left at my door, I was astounded. Not only because I had indeed swept that morning before leaving for work, but also because, in my opinion, I was the victim.
How could I be punished for the remains of a chicken wing and a crumpled bag of potato chips some slob had dropped on the ground? Why didn't the garbage police chase the actual evildoers?
Dream on. While litterbugs get a free pass, homeowners have to shell out $100 (up from $50 a decade or so ago) or waste half a day at a hearing downtown where the chances of getting the summons dismissed are 10 to 1. I usually just pay.
And pay. About two years ago, because of a changed job schedule, I hired the super of a nearby building to sweep the sidewalk in the morning. Yet, I still get summonses.
I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me that a law that's practically impossible to comply with should be unconstitutional. Unless you stand guard at your doorstop, broom in hand all day long, somebody, sometime will drop a piece of something on the ground around the time the sanitation inspector comes by.
And when does he come by? Ssshhh. That's a secret. You find out after you get the ticket. What they call the "established routing hour" is changed without you being informed about it.
Of the three summonses I've received so far this year, two were issued in the morning, between the then "established" hour of 8a.m. and 9 a.m., as indicated on the ticket. The third, issued three months later, was at 12:46 p.m., within the new - surprise! - "established" routing hour of noon to 1 p.m.
If this isn't entrapment, I don't know what is.
Then, there are the forces of nature. On a windy day, no matter how many times you sweep, who can stop flying supermarket circulars, takeout menus and plastic bags landing by your doorstop? Only divine intervention.
Through the years I've made my case at hearings before the Environmental Control Board's stone-faced judges and written letters to the local Community Board and my Council member.
The results: nada.
The annual cost of this travesty is the equivalent of a second, hidden property tax for the individual homeowner. This year my bill for sweeping or not sweeping my brother's trash will be more than $1,000.
This law is thoroughly unfair and needs to be changed. Let the garbage police go after the perpetrators instead of the victims. Ticket the litterbugs.
On second thought, don't hand them the summons. They'll probably drop it on the spot and I'll have to pick that up, too.
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