Neighbors trash dumping
I own a house that sits next to a stretch of wall that is the side of the neighboring property. People have been taking to dumping their large trash items in front of the wall (currently a mattress and boxspring, surely full of bed bugs.) The wall is also tagged with graffiti. There are no…
I own a house that sits next to a stretch of wall that is the side of the neighboring property. People have been taking to dumping their large trash items in front of the wall (currently a mattress and boxspring, surely full of bed bugs.) The wall is also tagged with graffiti. There are no lights along the wall or any signs. I’m grossed out and annoyed by the trash that is constantly left over there. plus once people see trash they think they can dump whatever is in the hand in the immediate area, which unfortunately is my front yard. I’m pretty sure it’s not the actual tenants of the building, but rather people in neighboring buildings. Previously, I’ve just waited for the garbage men to eventually pick up the stuff (they sometimes don’t because it’s not really an official address, i think). And once, when I was out of town, my tenants called 311 to request a large furniture pickup for a particularly smelly couch. I know large items have to get tossed somewhere, but the people who are doing the dumping don’t care what day trash pickup is so the stuff tends to sit there for days.
Anyway, I tried to look up the owner through proerty shark, but there’s no phone number. Last night I also went into the business that is in the front of the building, and gave them my info for the owner to contact me. Nothing. So do I:
a) call 311, and schedule a trash pickup since the owner won’t.
b) call 311 and lodge a complaint about the trash, which might get the owner a ticket. But then maybe he/she will be forced to address the situation, by possible putting lights or signs up.
c) Fume silently.
d) Try looking the owner up elsewhere (suggestions welcome) and contact him/her.
Also, is the owner legally obligated to do something?
Thanks in advance!
This isn’t an answer to your question, but you might be interested in knowing that Sanitation has an “Illegal Dumping Award” program:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/illegal_dumping/bounty.shtml
Also, whether you call 311 or the district garage directly, I recommend that you share that with your local community board. DSNY’s district superintendent is on the district service cabinet and community board’s can help juice 311 complaints.
Unfortunately, it becomes your problem. Forget about the owner. Just call Sanitation. A lot. Exaggerate. Get them out there constantly. Then you will see a difference. A little garbage begats more garbage. It gets together in the middle of the night and makes more and more garbage. There is a tipping point. It works the other way too — try to get others involved and you will break the pattern. Call. Call. All. Log. Good luck. I don’t blame you for getting mad. I had people for a little while dumping shit outside my place (one woman constantly put tons of Fresh Direct boxes all over my sidewalk). I brought them to the corner sidewalk garbage cans. Fortunately her name was on the boxes and I am sure got a couple of tickets. Try to influence people on your block to become neat freaks. Pick up garbage on the street in an obvious way.
I suggest matches. Or road flares. Yeah, road flares should do the trick.
You may get better results than I, but when I called 311 and Sanitation to let them know that someone had dumped a bunch of construction debris on the sidewalk along the side of my house and to ask if they could pick it up, they said “ok” on the phone. I waited 2 weeks and made a follow up call. No one came after another week. I was finally able to get someone who could help me lift the stuff to put it out at the front of my house for bulky day sanitation pickup.
You could also try ACRIS on the DoF website as another way to try to find out who the owner is.
Thanks for the good advice. I actually called 311 and scheduled a pick-up. I’ll use this as their last get-out-of-jail-free pass. Next time I will call sanitation.
Sorry, meant to say PROPERLY bagged & bundled, not probably!
Definitely call Sanitation directly and tell them you want to file a complaint. You might also be able to file the complaint online. Just go to nyc.gov and scroll down the city agency list for the Sanitation Dept. Calling 311 only adds an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and delays action. A few years back I called Santitation to complain that their truck did not pick up my garbage on recycling/collection day. The crew just walked right by it, even though it was probably bagged and bundled. Not only did I get a telephone apology, but the district inspector actually rang my doorbell and apologized in person. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked…but pleased that my complaint was handled.
Call 311. They will refer your call to Sanitation—sometimes by taking your complaint, sometimes by transferring your call. Make sure you write down the date and complaint number, because if Sanitation rides by and sees nothing (they often do not get out of their cars), you will need the complaint number for follow-up.
I agree. It’s a public nuisance & you’ve tried doing it the “good neighbor” way.