Shoo, Flyers, Don't Bother Me

my favorite is when you're sitting on your stoop or standing in your doorway and the delivery guys still hit you withthat crap

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 9:52 AM

where's a good place to order a "no fliers" sign?

-lc

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:03 AM

the circulars drive me nuts. i think the reason they over-drop at houses is that it makes it easier on the people dropping them. (not that they are to blame for circulars -- they're just the underpaid messengers.)

has anyone ever been successful getting circulars blocked?

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:07 AM

there should be a universal symbol (similar to the a smoking sign) that we can put up...so that messengers, who often dont speak/read english can understand...a symbol would also be less of an eyesore..its already bugging me that i have to deface my property with an ugly sign in order to maybe prevent someone from legally littering on it

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:17 AM

10:07 - yes, I was successful in blocking the Newsday adverts. I called the Newsday phone# on the circular and they directed me to another department. That department took the info, stopped the delivery and called to check up and make sure that the delivery had in fact been stopped!

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:33 AM

The are plenty of laws on the books, but who will actually enforce this law?

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:38 AM

I like to save them up until I see them come by and then I give them back. They are usually actually pretty polite and take them back without any hassel.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:38 AM

Thank you for the update. I have been pleading for years to have these adverts stopped - especially after my tenant slipped and fell on one that was under the snow. I also would like to know if anyone knows if and where to get a NO-FLIERS SIGN. I love the English univeral "No Fowling" Sign for dogs. I'm all for adapting a similar sign for no fliers.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 10:56 AM

I guess you folk don't need some coupons. Just pick it up and throw it in the garbage..

Soon you'll have a sign "No Poor People allowed"

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 11:03 AM

Now only if we could eliminate the useless postings on the site.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 11:03 AM

"I like to save them up until I see them come by and then I give them back." -do you really like to do that?, does anyone else do that?, seems like your trying to make a point to someone that really doesnt give a shit, and will have no results.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 11:04 AM

i think the people who put these in your yards get paid by getting rid of them, that may be why they give 2-3 of them to every house. if they don't have any houses to throw these at then they will be out of jobs.

i absolutely hate these things though, and every time we get them i look up the block and all i can think about is the amount of unnecessary waste the US generates. advertising is out of control. oh well, i guess it's all about the benjamins. but will it be funny when our benjamins are worthless soon?

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 11:14 AM

If you're posting on this site, then that means you're probably sitting in front a computer. There's this program call MS Word(NotePad will work also). Just type "NO FLYERS" in big 36 point font and press the print button. Voila instant sign.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 11:52 AM

"I guess you folk don't need some coupons. Just pick it up and throw it in the garbage..

Soon you'll have a sign "No Poor People allowed""

what a stupid comment. maybe people simply don't shop at that store. "just throw them out", that's great for the environment.

think before typing.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 12:01 PM

There's normally a couple in my front yard when I arrive home. I usually open the plastic sleeve, put the "paper" in with my other recyclable newspapers, and put the plastic sleeve in the "plastic, bottles and cans" recyclables.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 12:19 PM

"I guess you folk don't need some coupons. Just pick it up and throw it in the garbage..

Soon you'll have a sign "No Poor People allowed""

what a stupid comment. maybe people simply don't shop at that store. "just throw them out", that's great for the environment.

think before typing.

Come on now. Don't you know that white people get real uppity when you mention money and the have and have nots.
The flyers have been around for years and a bunch of new residents complaining isn't going to make them go away.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 12:36 PM

I always take it from someone's stoop every week, since I live in a condo and don't get these. I clip the coupons every week and also plan my weekly food shopping at Pathmark.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 1:11 PM

Those plastic sleeves are not recyclable in NYC. You are contaminating your recycling. This inability to follow simple directions -- we all get those colorful NYC recycling brochures in the mail -- is the reason that the city must resort all the trash before it can be recycled. It's a huge an utterly unnecessary expense.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 1:29 PM

I have an extremely paranoid take on this.

I think - like in Italy where the Carabonieri once put a little ticket in everyones doorframe at night to check whether anyone had been in or out during curfew - some of these flyers are actually put there for the sole purpose of seeing if anyone is home.

I have frequently thought someone was at the door at the top of my stoop only to find a stranger intently peering inside. Looking inside isn't exactly a necessary part of distributing little cards for Evelyn Car Service.

Earlier this year I questioned a jittery young man who stood on my block for several hours, scanning the comings and goings in the morning while commenting non stop into a cell phone. I continued to watch as he was picked up by a van and moved off. I'd seen a similar van on the block earlier that week as several men converged on it carrying black garbage bags, hopped in and sped off.

If any of you remember, not long ago, a person on Long Island was arrested for master minding break-ins commited with illegal day workers picked up on some strip where they congregated looking for work. He'd have already scoped out neighbohoods he planned to rob, then had the illegals do the dirty work.

I honestly believe that flyers are more than an ecological disaster, they are masking crime.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 1:52 PM

What sort of sign is required? Is there a standard sign that is suggested by the regulation?

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 3:59 PM

Thanks, 1:29. I won't put the sleeves in the recycling anymore.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 4:39 PM

Maybe you'd better call the police and report your suspicions, 1:52. You could be preventing a flyer-fueled crime right now!

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 4:41 PM

What's more annoying than coming home to find your doorstep littered with plastic-encased circulars that are of absolutely no value to you and more or less only create a crapload of waste?

So many things.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 6:56 PM

JC Penny and Sears seem to like my block.

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 7:17 PM

The signs should be multilingual.
We have one doorbell on our house and STILL get four to SIX of those Kohl's plastic sheathed circular pacs (each is as thick as a Monday NYT on occassion!). Wonderful if you've been away for the weekend or away, G-d forbid, on vacation or on business! My next door neighbor who is retired used to get rid of them because she needed the plastic bags for her doggie walks. She was kind enough to do away with the circulars and generally keep a watch on the stoop litter when I was away but alas, she has moved to another house in the nabe.

I curse when I come home to wads of soppy, wet paper, etc. on a rainy day AND really curse when I have to process all this junk back into the waste stream periodically. Such a nuisance! I try to recycle the paper and dump the plastic and it's a pain in the you-know-what. Plus, it's all usually dirty and gritty and triggers asthma. Feh!

Thanks for opening a discussion on this!

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 7:42 PM

The flyers are a nuisance and have been the reason I have been ticketed by sanitation (when I neglected to remove them from bottom of my garbage can before putting the garbage bag in the can for collection - UGH!)

I am willing to accept:
A) the general annoyance-I never use them, they are advertising products I do not buy and obviously not many other people are buying either, or they would not be pushing them!

B) That they are a fact of this homeowner's life in the big city

C) I will have to sort them for collection or face the possible penalty

HOWEVER, I AM NOT WILLING TO ACCEPT THE LIABILITY FOR THE STUPIDITY OF OTHERS. They can leave that damned things – just not on my stairs!!! That is a real hazard and liability to homeowners. I nearly slipped on my steps one a.m. because they had been left (plastic bag of course) on my stairs and I did not see it on the lower steps as I left the building. When you are entering a building that is no problem. But if they are distributed on the stairs and people exit the building, depending on the circumstances, there is a great chance that you will not see them. Whose fault is that! Never mind it does not matter; because it is the owner who's insurance company will be paying!

Posted by: guest at September 20, 2007 11:00 PM

I think every commercial enterprise creating flyers for distribution - business cards, menus, coupon flyers, those wierd pizza delivery things they put on the doorknobs (who needs chain pizza HERE?) should be licensed with large fees going directly to the sanitation department. If flyers of a particular vendor are discovered loose on the street, THEIR license should be examined and they should be fined by NYC and forced to pay for commercial sweeping for the area found to be in violation.

How's that? A new beaurocracy in NYC - we need revenue! I have noted in the past that Sanitation Cops have guns (why?). Lets give them a real reason to carry them ; )

Now lets get to work on banning that pesky chewing gum that spots every horzontal surface...

Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 7:45 AM

"I always take it from someone's stoop every week, since I live in a condo and don't get these."

I do the same since they sometimes miss my block! I love these ads since I get all the circulars in one handy package. I get to see who has cereal the cheapest this week. These ads are a real money saver.

Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 11:45 AM