Walking the sidewalks of just about any city — especially one like New York where apartment turnover is at a high level — you’re likely to find at least one or two chairs, shelves, mirrors, dressers, etc., that are in passable, if not pristine, condition. But be warned before you go putting that side table in the back of a cab — it could end up costing you a lot of money.
CBS2 in NY has the story of a man in Queens who spotted a discarded air-conditioner on the curb that has ultimately cost him — and his 73-year-old aunt — $2,000 each.
“As far as I knew it was a piece of garbage sitting on the curb,” says the guy. “There was a lady here. I asked the lady can I take the air conditioner. She said go ahead take it. It’s garbage.”
But what he didn’t know was that once trash meets curb, it belongs to the city. So when a sanitation officer down the street spotted the man loading the A/C unit into a car, not only was he fined $2,000 but the car was impounded and the car’s owner — the aforementioned elderly aunt — was fined the same amount.
Says the aunt: “I said what is this and she said well we have to serve you with this. You’re the owner of the car and it says I gave him permission.”
According to the city’s Department of Sanitation, it’s fine to grab furniture from the curb; just don’t do it in a motor vehicle.
Writes CBS2:
Recycling is a revenue source for the city and sanitation officials said the law was “designed to deter organized rings of recycling thefts” that cost the city more than $300,000 a year.
Another source of revenue is apparently the fine itself. In 2009, the sanitation department issued 280 summonses for violators and impounded 136 vehicles. At $2,000 per violation, that’s a nice chunk of change in the city’s pocket.
NYC Man Fined $2,000 For Taking Discarded Garbage [WBCSTV via Gothamist]
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Ignore the sanitation worker and leave. Pretend like the sanitation worker does not exist. If anyone follows up on this, your only response should be “no statement”.
That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard all day. They should be ashamed of themselves for allowing that to continue. $2,000.00 and impounding your car is totally fair for the infraction. You probably get off with less for drunk driving! But you took an old AC off the curb, ooooooh!
http://www.freecycle.org/
No need to toss everything, some folks may need it…
There was once a piece of furniture sitting outside my apartment complex that looked tempting. A police officer happened to be walking down, so I pulled him aside and asked if it was legal to claim the property – to which he said, “it looks like ‘abandoned property to me!’” and gave me the nod to go ahead.
(Note – I ended up not taking it afterall.)
Wow. That is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. If someone prevents an item from being tossed in a landfill, fabulous! I grew up in Boston, and garbage day is like shopping day for some people. I have a friend who left out a mattress to be taken away, and someone came by and strapped it to their car roof within two hours. My boyfriend also knew someone that used to go to Beacon Hill (rich area) on garbage day and got some really nice things that were left out.
It’s re-goddamn-diculous! I have picked trash since I was 12. I have found tons of fantastic stuff, some of it I kept, some of it I sold. I’m out of work now and I have been grabbing stuff to take to the flea market for a few months now. Hell, you’d be suprised how much of the stuff you buy from a flea market is from the trash.
Better than in a landfill.
I have picked up may things from curbside shopping. Picked up a fire pit once, still using it today.
Apparently we have a similar law in California (I did not know that), but I think it’s kind of stupid. Okay, so they want to do away w/ the recycling theft rings, but that should apply to recyclables such as cans, bottles, paper. You can get money when you recycle such items. I don’t think that you can get money for recycling stuff like electronics (in fact, sometimes you have to pay?) or furniture.
See, there’s a difference – when we put out our recycling trash can, we’re putting it for the city dept to come by and pick it up. Hobos and can collectors come along and dig in there. However, if we put an old tv or a desk, we’re not putting it there for the city. We’re putting it there because we no longer have a use for it and maybe someone else wants it. Now, if the city wants to say “don’t dump your stuff on the sidewalk”, then that’s fine, but it should apply to the dumper, not the person who picks it up.
Are you FRIGGEN KIDDING ME?????????????????
But didn’t the Supreme Court decide that once you throw it out, it’s a free for all?
NY D.O.S. has gotten outwardly ridiculous with their ticketing to make some money during the budget crisis.
My building has gotten two tickets for “garbage put out on a non-garbage day”, both of which were issued and dated on the official garbage day.
One inspector opened up a black bag, found an empty can, and issued a ticket for putting a recyclable in a black bag.
Then a few weeks ago a ticket was issued for a few empty packs of cigarettes and bottle caps from the club next door that were thrown in front of our building. They could put up a corner can there like the one two blocks down, but it’s much more profitable to write tickets.
They just assume people are too busy to contest BS tickets and will pay them, however after multiple tickets in a year the fines can escalate up to $1000 per violation. And they can find ANYTHING that breaks the rules. Technically, using string or tape instead of twine to bundle your cardboard is a fine-able offense.
Wait, the Supreme Court says once trash hits the curbs it doesn’t belong to anyone, so how does NYC turn around and claim it is theirs?
So NYC is saying that every. single. thing. gets recycled, not thrown away or added to a land fill? I’d like to see proof.
Sanity prevailed (for a change)…the case was dismissed.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/15/2010-07-15_way_cool_ac_case_nixed.html
Ah, government. Our great benevolent overlord. Always looking out for the little guy. Never trying to amass power and coin for itself.
One thing I love about chicago is that you can put anything in the alley and its gone in about 10 mins. There are roaming bands of ‘scavengers’ in little flat beds that spend all day going up and down the streets.
I was worried at my last move that some of my stuff was not going to get taken so I put my VHS copy of Scarface on top of it all and BAM! literally taken within 5 mins.
What a racket.
This sounds like a job for Jimmy Justice!
I’ve “donated” and picked up so much stuff from the un-official free trade market that exists in cities and think it is wonderful.
Having said that, I think there should be a 3 day rule: if someone hasn’t picked up your couch/ boxes/ VHS tapes/ etc within 3 days, they become your responsibility again to dispose of properly. I’ve seem too many good-enough couches become disgusting-moldy-sponge couches because the owners put them out before a storm and neglect them for weeks on end.
In New York City, over a relatively brief period , 11,528 appliances, which the Department of Sanitation were supposed to pick up, were stolen.
“Behind those losses, some in the industry — by some accounts an $85 billion annual business in 2008 — see the hand of organized crime, although no one can point to hard evidence. New York’s enduring and resourceful mob families have long played a role in both the recycling and scrap industries and have a knack for turning up where the money is.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/nyregion/15fridge.html?sq=appliances crime&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=print