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Photograph of City Councilman Simcha Felder (right) with Sustainable Flatbush's Mark Levy from simcha.felder on Flickr
As of this past Saturday, property owners are now able to place signs letting businesses know their unwanted ads are no longer wanted. A state law, passed in January but only in effect now, allows homeowners and landlords to complain about advertisers leaving unsolicited fliers, menus, circulars, etc., and the Department of Sanitation is now able to issue fines of $250 per infraction.
City Councilman Simcha Felder said at a City Hall press conference yesterday (complete with staged flier mess!), "Far too many homeowners in the city have had to endure the onslaught of fliers and circulars that have been dumped on our doorsteps"-- that includes Felder's mother, who was fined $100 by the DOS for fliers on her stoop! -- "Finally, New Yorkers can say ‘Stop the Junk’ and have the force of the law behind them, with the ability to file complaints directly against distributors. The result will be cleaner streets, more livable neighborhoods, and less waste.”
You can post a sign saying you don't want ads delivered to your home (here's a PDF of a sample sign--it must be at least 5" x 7" with the letters 1" in size) and here's the complaint letter. Be warned that the signs might not immediately do the trick, as Sustainable Flatbush's Mark Levy told amNY he has a sign but still received a circular. Levy filled out a complaint form.
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There doesn't appear to be much recourse for renters. If your building fails to put up a sign, it doesn't appear you have the legal right to put one on the door of your apartment -- you have to be the owner. It also appears you must be the owner to file a complaint.
with prices going up people are going to need those coupons, circulars, and other incentives found in those baggies.
@zpk, while it is work for the building owner/landlord, perhaps they'll be motivated to place a sign--because otherwise they have to clean up the mess.
No one ever needs this litter.
Is there an exemption for political materials, and if there isn't, does anyone expect the parties to challenge the law?
Those Momofuku Ko menu doorhangers are littering my building. I called to complain but only got a voice message saying that the coupon in back is no longer valid.
that looks like suburban circulars and flyers, your pennysavers, your lowes, home depot, pathmark.
the manhattan places have used the USPS for their unsolicited advertising.
don't forget the politicos sending out their "i care for you so much although you never hear from me until election time" losers
At least Levy dressed for the occasion. I'm really surprised when people don't take community advocates seriously.
This really shouldn't be an "opt-out" sort of situation. How many different signs should be plastered on building? No loitering. No trespassing. Beware of dog. No flyers. If people want flyers, they'll go pick them up. Just put up some kind of centralized box where restaurants and the like can leave them.
If I were a landlord, I would be racing to put these up on all of my buildings. The flier industry in this city generates an ungodly amount of paper waste, and should be outright banned.
As a renter, I may not have the authority to file one of these complaints, but that doesn't mean I can't put up one of the signs. After all, ideally the result isn't that a complaint gets filed and some restaurant with aggressive delivery guys gets ticketed, but that they see the notice and don't leave flyers at all.
"that includes Felder's mother, who was fined $100 by the DOS for fliers on her stoop!"
Did you ever notice that lawmakers don't push for laws until someone they're concerned about is affected?
What about people that park their cars and then empty their trash out onto the ground
That's much worse then this
The ground is not a trash can and people should be strung up for being so stupid and thoughless
#4, to answer your question, the law states "any entity". It is doubtful an elected official would want to modify such a practical piece of legislation.
On the other hand, that press conference must hold the record for least attended.
Then again, who would want to be seen publicly with Felder? The one stooge he was able to corral managed to obscure his face from the public.
What about people that park their cars and then empty their trash out onto the ground
That's much worse then this
Um, no it isn't. There are already laws against this sort of littering, and that isn't a systemic problem like the fliers are. Several times a week, most buildings and homes have their properties littered with this kind of unsolicited junk, there's a whole industry behind it. It's a much bigger and different problem than some individual ahole putting his trash on the street.
Yes but this is just paper and sometimes informational
and quite easy to pick up
as opposed to thousands of individuals all over the city throwing out wrappers, used condoms, food, cups, etc etc etc
this is not an industry
its just the way people think
that is why it is worse
The NYTimes had an article last week about this as well. They linked to a website at http://www.stoplawnlitter.org where you can sign up and get a free sign for your house. It looks like these guys really have it together. I registered and can't wait to get my sign.
what really helped me to eliminate all this garbage is a nice sign i ordered from junk law.
after I put it up, all this cr@p stopped showing up on my lawn.
check out www.877junklaw.com
i think they even have this on ebay now item #280309265220
you just don't understand how amazing it is having one of these signs
I wish they would have came up with this sooner