Printer Friendly Format Email a Friend


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 322-07
September 5, 2007

MAYOR BLOOMBERG SIGNS LEGISLATION INCREASING FINES FOR DUMPING HOUSEHOLD AND COMMERCIAL REFUSE INTO PUBLIC LITTER BASKETS

Remarks by Mayor Bloomberg at a Public Hearing on Local Laws

"The next bill before me is Introductory Number 110-A, sponsored by Council Members McMahon, Addabbo, Fidler, Gentile, Koppell, Mark-Viverito, Martinez, Mendez, Nelson, Recchia, Sanders, Weprin, Liu, Jackson, Gonzalez, Vallone, Felder, Sears, Gennaro and the Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum.  This bill increases fines for dumping household and commercial refuse into public litter baskets.

"As a result of the Department of Sanitation's ongoing efforts to control street litter through cleaning and enforcement measures, our streets are the cleanest they have been since inspections began in 1975. Sanitation enforcement personnel, however, occasionally observe people illegally depositing whole bags of household or commercial refuse into public litter baskets, in some cases causing baskets to overflow with spilled garbage.

"Introductory Number 110-A will increase fines for dumping household and commercial waste into public litter baskets to a range of $100 to $300 for a first offense, $250 to $350 for a second offense, and $350 to $400 for a third or subsequent offense. This bill will also create a rebuttable presumption that the person whose name or other identifying information is found on the commercial or household waste deposited it in the public litter basket.

"The increased penalties will help dissuade people from illegally dumping their private trash into baskets designated for public use, thus allowing pedestrians a place to discard their litter, which will help to keep our neighborhoods clean.

"I would like to thank Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty and his staff for their work on the bill.  I would also like to thank the Council for approving this legislation."







MEDIA CONTACT:


Stu Loeser/Matthew Kelly   (212) 788-2958




More Resources
View the photos
Watch the video in 56k or 512k