"Free" Curbside Furniture Comes With $100 Fine

Don't be tempted by these fine furnishings (photo from Flickr user kiminnyc)

We New Yorkers have a long and noble tradition of furnishing our apartments with junk we find on the street. For example, our favorite light fixture, a touch lamp with three settings in the shape of a rose, was found on Lafayette Street in the wee hours of a March morning, circa 2004. But today comes the distressing news that the Sanitation Department does not look so kindly upon our freecycling and our Craigslist-moderated curb alerts.

The Daily News ran a story about a Park Slope man who was fined $100 for putting his dresser in front of his house, and then mentions that "it's also illegal for a passerby to pick up an item left at the curb for Sanitation." This jogged our memory of an article from last summer about a Queens man and his little old aunt being fined a whopping $2,000 for putting a used air conditioner in their car, in which the Sanitation Department told us that "it's not always illegal to pick up something from the street, it's only when a vehicle is involved."

Concerned and about the status of our living rooms, we reached out to the Sanitation Department again for some clarity, and here is what we learned: the Park Slope man was fined $100 for putting his dresser out on a Sunday, which was not a regularly scheduled pickup day; there's a separate $100 fine for picking up refuse (including free furniture) from a household; and the $2,000 fine applies to people who are lucky enough to load their finds into a vehicle.

Got that? It's illegal to put out, pick up, and especially pick up in a car, awesome street furniture like this.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jamie Feldmar in News on April 27, 2011 6:03 PM

Comments [rss]

Joe Smith

That's city living for ya. Too much trash and its a serious problem. Here in the country, people put whatever they want at curbside and its usually gone within the hour.

Marc Levy

i just got my truck taken that i saved 6 months for . for picking up a mini fridge! my friend in sanitation told me u cant take any with a orange label. the thing is worth like 4 bucks at the recycle place. i explain all this to the cop n ask him if i would risk loseing my truck n being fined for 4 bucks if i knew it was illegal? come on dude give me a break, this law is not exactly advertised! so itll cost me 2,000 bucks if im found guilty,im out of work till i get my truck back, n my measly bank account will be bankrupt if im forced to pay this crazy fine for a law # s1f that i cant find anywhere online? can anyone help me plz? bobby 347-465-5299 thnx

Guest

Dumb dumb dumb dumb! The city needs to give a valid reason for these fines. Otherwise, fuck 'em!

blindmalice

Bloomberg to Sanitation, Fire Dept, NYPD: " I DONT CARE WHAT IT TAKES, GET US SOME MORE MONEY NOW!!!! FINE EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING, AND I MEAN EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN THINK OF!!!!!! IF YOU NEED IDEAS, JUST ASK ME!!!! NOW....GO!!!

m_c_nyc

New York sucks. People do not revolt against more endless stupid inhumane laws that rule this city.

theevilerone

This law is not unique to NYC, this was the law where I grew up out in the 'burbs. Enforcement of the law was a different matter. We just considered keeping our garbage in our yards until pickup day COMMON COURTESY.

cr17

You'll be happy to know that any of what's written above is going to stop anyone from taking something like off the street, whether there's a vehicle involved or not. You should be able to sleep soundly tonight knowing the revolution will go on.

Peanut_Butter

The people did revolt. They tried to cut off the stupidity at its legs. It's called Bloomberg and an unlawful 3rd term. He overruled them.

theevilerone

Get over it. The populace had a chance to vote him out of office during his "illegal third term." Enough people voted for him. If you are claiming widespread election fraud, oh please, prove it.

mrmanhattan

Furniture? I've found a great acoustic guitar (needed a 10 minute nut repair), guitar stands, two pair of fantastic stereo speakers, stereo cabinet, and, a matching pair of lamps found individually, six months and about a dozen blocks apart!

sluggita

Oh this city just gets more and more stupid every day!!! Why sjouldn't someone take it {and risk bed bugs} and reuse the thrown away furniture if they want to! It's a New York tradition! I still have great pieces of furniture I garbage picked in my twenties. Screw sanitaion, why on earth do they mind? It's less garbage for the city to get rid of. Recycling: heard of it? jeez!

jm1975

First part of your last sentence is incorrect. You can put furniture out the night before your garbage pick up day.

jaycjay

Just like anything else. You can be fined for putting bags of trash at the curb if it's not a scheduled pickup day.

it's also illegal for a passerby to pick up an item left at the curb for Sanitation."

What if I leave something at the curb intending it to be "free for the taking" for anyone, not for Sanitation?