City Council Bill Would Limit Sanitation Department Fines for Litter
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The city’s Department of Sanitation can fine residents when there is litter on their property or on the sidewalk in front, but under a City Council bill expected to be approved today, department officials would be allowed to issue such tickets only between 8 and 9 a.m. and 6 and 7 p.m.
A City Council member of Brooklyn who introduced the bill, Simcha Felder, said it is unfair for sanitation officials to ticket in the middle of the day, when residents are out of the house and unable to pick up trash on their property or on the sidewalk and street in front.
“The purpose is to finally rein in the ticketing blitz that takes place with sanitation enforcement,” Mr. Felder said.
He also has introduced a bill to lower fines for sanitation offenses, which currently start at $100, he said.
A spokesman for the sanitation department, Keith Mellis, said, “The department only writes violations for people who are in violation of the rules.”
Mr. Felder said he has never been ticketed for a messy yard or sidewalk, but said his 87-year-old mother, who lives in Brooklyn, has received two sanitation tickets, most recently for having a dirty sidewalk.
