Closing Bell: Fighting Unwanted Fliers
Now the long arm of the law is backing up the handwritten “no menus” sign found in so many residential buildings. The Sun reports that the City Council has passed the Lawn Litter Law, banning businesses from leaving fliers in front of homes with signs like this: “Do not place unsolicited advertising materials on this…
Now the long arm of the law is backing up the handwritten “no menus” sign found in so many residential buildings. The Sun reports that the City Council has passed the Lawn Litter Law, banning businesses from leaving fliers in front of homes with signs like this: “Do not place unsolicited advertising materials on this property.” Homeowners and landlords can file a complaint with the Department of Sanitation if paper-crazed advertisers don’t comply.
New Law Allows Residents to Fight Unwanted Fliers [NY Sun]
As a more level headed resident of Carroll Cardens (sorryBWilly), the menus/fliers are not simply a matter of one persons likes or dislikes. They are a community issue. Actually, if the fliers were simply placed through the mail slot or somehow placed where they wouldn’t become rainsoaked or wind borne it would be preferable to how they are currently distributed. Unfortunately they are left in fences and gates, or simple tossed into the yard or left on the sidewalk where a gust of wind makes them everyones problem. Those of you who simply ignore them thinking this is your landlord’s responsibility make the situation worse. Effectively, maybe two thirds of the fliers are retrieved from where they are dropped but the other third litter the street and sidewalk, clog the stormwater gratings and catchbasins or end up in the Gowanus. Pointing out the problem to the offending business should solve the problem but it doesn’t. If these businesses are truly members of our community they should act more responsibly. If they can’t grow their business without offending a sizeable portion of the community they deserve to be fined. Take a little pride.
Invest this extraordinary energy elsewhere Willy, for the love of all that is holy. Please, invest it elsewhere.
I don’t care what it is, anything you find compelling… Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, the Plumpynut program through Doctor’s Without Borders…
Then, if you find that you cannot, go and get some help.
BrooklynWilly is very silly. And guilty of assault.
If I can get a ticket for the junk circulars tossed on my property, then I should have recourse against those that put them there.
Sorry to ramble but I forgot to mention a couple of my creative techniques for dealing with this problem. Last year I collected a truckload of Kohl’s papers; truly a small truck load. I then dropped them all right at the front door of the building housing Kohl’s advertising unit. It was fun.
I’ve waiting for the guy to come by and accidentally sprayed him with my house – about 17 times in the last year. This has proven much more effective than any sign.
I have a video system so I caught one guy trying to pull of my sign for no flyers. We ID’d him and he was charged with a misdemeanor which killed his illegal status. Oh well.
I’ve waited and the second the guy throws his paper in, I wing last weeks paper right at him as hard as I can. I’m very accurate.
I’ve dropped eggs on the guys from my roof; water balloons, latex paint, and all sorts of things. The beauty of it all is that I’m a lawyer who works 60 hours/week yet I still find time for this stuff. yes, you’re all probably saying what I’m thinking. I’ll miss these guys if they ever leave me won’t I?
As a brownstone owner in Carroll Gardens I must comment. It’s easy to say, “no big deal, just pick them up…there are plenty of more important things in the world”, but if a homeowner takes this approach, he or she might as well roll over, let the property fall to crap, roll up in the fetal position and ask these annoying paper delivery guys to pardon him/her for being in their way. What the F__K?! Sure we can ignore it as we can ignore lots of things in life, but there is nothing wrong with finding this intrusive and annoying as hell. These guys leave 4-5 things littering my stoop a few times every week. Kohl’s is the worst! I’ve asked them nicely to stop. I’ve even offered to pay the guys to stop which works until some new guy picks up the route. I’m a nice guy! But this is my property. I own it. They are now breaking the law. It’s great. I’m tired of waiting up late through the night and into the early morning just to spring upon these guys with boiling water. Hell, I’m just throwing hot water onto a public sidewalk. Their throwing slippery plastic onto private property. My elderly tenant slipped and broke her hip last her on one of these things. Three months later she died from complication related to the surgery. But, sure, we can admire these guys and the companies they work for if we want to. WHY? What is wrong with some of you people. If someone vents about this, you defend it. If someone complains about a loud neighbor you say it’s just the city and to move. If someone complains about anything they have every right to complain about, some of you rail against them. Tonight I rail against you because you are either just uninformed, a weak, weak human being, or you’re just trying to get a rise. If it’s the latter – fine – you got me. If it’s the former – well, then you’ll never get any wiser. If it’s that you’re just weak which is my guess, then pleas grow some balls because that’s what living in New York City is all about.
In the last 2 weeks I’ve had two “No flyers, menus, etc..” posters torn off my front gate by people leaving the same banned flyers, menus, etc. This must have taken some effort since these were laminated in plastic. It would be great if they could finally enforce the law, but how can they, if they perpetrators themselves can get away with vandalizing the sign that they can later say wasn’t there?
I agree, johnife. I find the menus and flyers a minor nuisance to clean up, and an incredible waste of paper.
When I come home and find two or three of the same supermarket circular hanging from the upper and lower entrances of the house — we’re in a single family residence, but the guys they hire to distribute these must assume were a multi-family dwelling — only to chuck them immediately into the recycling, it makes me a little sick at the waste of time, energy and paper. Not so much my own time, but the effort of the guys who plaster the neighborhood, and to what effect? I never look at anything that gets shoved under my door or left on my stoop. it always gets dumped right away.
They should offer a way to opt of the paper flyers and get the information via email. I’d gladly delete a few emails every night if it would prevent the needless waste of paper.
The difference between all those (admittedly objectionable) actions that many of you find more serious than the flyers themselves is that they, unlike the flyers, do not require the destruction of CO2 consuming trees.
Ditto Nokilissa…I’m cool with the menus.
But, can I also add clipping fingernails (and assorted other très personnel hygiène moments) on the bus and/or subways and women who use their baby strollers as weapons (heaven forbid they SHARE the sidewalk) as two of my BIGGEST pet peeves?