NYC Department of Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty runs a tight trash heap, and his team of dedicated sanitation artisans are truly New York's strongest. But has he gone too far in his zeal to enforce the city's numerous sanitation rules [pdf]? One elderly Inwood resident named Delia Gluckin certainly thinks so; she claims a Department of Sanitation agent recently wrote her a ticket for throwing out her newspaper... in a public trash bin.
In an exclusive report, the Post says that Gluckin, 80, is fighting a $100 ticket for putting "improper refuse" in a city litter basket. She claims she was en route to the subway when she dropped her newspaper in the trash can outside her apartment, a transgressive act that caught the eye of a dedicated Sanitation agent. "She acted as if I had a committed a crime," Gluckin tells the tabloid. "I said, 'Look, lady, I'm a senior citizen... I'll just take it back.' I even said to her, 'Am I your first customer of the day? I really felt intimidated... I have a feeling she just wanted to make her quota." So cynical for a kindly old grandmother!
Gluckin is on a fixed income and has vowed to fight the ticket. A Sanitation Department spokesperson admits, "Being fined for tossing a newspaper into a basket is odd." But also: "Too many apartment dwellers use the corner litter basket as their personal household dumping site." Let's let Gluckin's rubbish rap serve as a cautionary tale about the risks of getting mixed up with print media.
