Number Of Tickets For Illegal Trash Dumping Drop 78%

June 30 marked the end of NYC’s fiscal year 2013, and with it came an incredible drop in tickets given to residents and business owners dumping their trash in city garbage cans, says the Daily News. In FY 2012, 4,185 tickets were given — but this past year, only 922 were, and different sources are attributing the change to different things.

The Department of Sanitation blames the drop on their regular enforcement officers being transferred to traffic duty in the weeks following Hurricane Sandy, but says there has been no reduction in staff. However Local 1182, the union that represents sanitation workers, says the number of enforcement officers is now at approximately 160, down from over 200 a year ago.

We’re lucky to have Project Sweep on Cortelyou and Newkirk Plaza and the Doe Fund’s Ready Willing and Able program on Church, who can absorb some mess, but can’t enforce laws against illegal dumping. So, what’s the best way to handle dumping on our streets?

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