Monzel: Clean Up The Trash

This is a New York City trash can. Note the $100 fine for dumping anything but street litter into it.

That's the same thing Councilman Chris Monzel wants to do here. He's introducing an ordinance to allow police officers who see inappropriate dumping into any of the city's 2,379 corner trash cans to fine the dumper $100. That's because the city's public services director, Andrew Glenn, says part of the reason the cans sometimes get full fast is that people stuff the cans with their personal trash.

Monzel's plan also would require any can about which someone called public services to complain be emptied within 24 hours. Glenn says all cans are emptied weekly, if not more often, but Monzel wants to put that in the form of a policy anyway.

Monzel expects his plan to be introduced in neighborhoods committee April 29.

(Photo courtesy of Monzel aide Bradford P. Beckett)

See a map of where all the trash cans are here (pdf)