The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association last week released a report indicating that laws regarding the posting of illegal signs, such as this, are not being enforced well enough.
Photo Courtesy of the WRBA
In a new, exhaustive report that was four years in the making, the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association says that the city Sanitation Department has been dropping the ball when it comes to enforcement, regulating the posting of illegal signs throughout Woodhaven, as well as the rest of the city.
The group says that the illegal signs—which can be found tacked to public property such as street signs, lampposts and mailboxes, among other places—have long been an eyesore that negatively affects local businesses, distracts drivers and pedestrians, and are frequently used by scammers to lure people into fraudulent commercial transactions.
The protocol for dealing with illegal signs and postings that often pertain to foreclosed houses, junk cars and a variety of other commercial offerings, is for residents to call 311 to report the signs, which the DSNY is then responsible for removing and, ideally, punishing the offending parties accordingly.
But the WRBA’s report calls into question the validity and efficacy of enforcement efforts.
“Our study shows that when Sanitation says an illegal posting has been addressed, there’s a better-than-50-percent chance it’s not true,” said Alex Blenkinsopp, WRBA director of communications. “That performance deserves a failing grade.”
Key findings of the group’s report revealed that more than 63 percent of 311 requests were not addressed properly. Further, nearly half of all illegal-sign removal requests that DSNY claims to have handled, went unfulfilled.
Additionally, the group also found that this year alone, nearly 30 percent of all DSNY requests never reached the department at all, while some Sanitation personnel were found to often take shortcuts, such as the partial removal or covering-over of illegal signs and postings.
The report also revealed a significant lag—3 to 7 days—after an illegal sign is reported to 311 before the DSNY could act. Blenkinsopp pointed out that this lag allowed law-breaking businesses to enjoy at least a week of free advertising before any signs were removed.
Calls and emails to a DSNY spokesperson regarding the illegal signs issue were not returned.
And, while the group’s report points out that the current approach to illegal postings is not working and that 311 has become an ineffective tool for dealing with illegal signs; the WRBA has also suggested alternate ways of dealing with the problem.
Back in 2011, the WRBA floated a plan to allow residents to remove illegal signs and postings themselves, as soon as they were spotted, instead of waiting on DSNY to react. The group said that they never received a response from the city regarding the proposal.
“When it comes to illegal signs, the Sanitation Department should stop ignoring and blocking involvement by residents who have no agenda other than caring for our community and bringing about positive change,” said WRBA President Martin Colberg.
The WRBA indicated that it has continued its campaign of photographing illegal signs and postings and collecting data on the inefficiencies of the city’s 311 reporting system.
Moving forward, the WRBA offered several recommendations to the DSNY to help it improve upon what the civic called an unacceptable “status quo,” including accepting the group’s 2011 plan to allow citizens to remove signs and also enable citizen-based affidavits to be used to prosecute illegal posters, much in the same way they are used against illegal dumpers.
Further, the group wants Sanitation personnel to proactively find and remove illegal postings, instead of waiting for complaints to filter through the 311 system, which is currently the case.
The WRBA said it would also like to see the use of financial rewards instituted for those who provide information leading to the conviction of illegal dumpers, again, much in the same way the DSNY has worked to fight illegal dumping.
“Illegal posting is a plague that has struck Woodhaven and neighborhoods across New York City,” Blenkinsopp wrote in the WRBA report. “The Department of Sanitation’s current approach is not working. It should consider carefully the WRBA’s observations, and implement our proposed solutions.”
By Alan Krawitz
