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kiknkorea
Joined: 16 May 2008
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 Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:25 pm Post subject: NYC Man Fined $2,000 For Taking Discarded Garbage |
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(NEW YORK) It's something nearly everyone's been tempted to do at least once. You see someone else's throwaways on street and think -- that would look nice in my place.
But as CBS 2 HD found out taking it could end up costing you big-time.
"As far as I knew it was a piece of garbage sitting on the curb," Paul Lawrence said.
But what Lawrence didn't know when he decided to pick up a discarded air conditioner sitting on the sidewalk in Middle Village, Queens is that once trash hits the curb, it's technically city property.
And he was breaking the law.
"There was a lady here. I asked the lady can I take the air conditioner. She said go ahead take it. It's garbage," Lawrence said.
But not only was he fined $2,000 by a sanitation officer who watched him do it, the car he was driving was impounded.
And its owner -- Lawrence's Aunt, 73-year-old Margaret Colavita, was also slapped with a $2,000 fine.
Department of Sanitation officials said it's not always illegal to pick up something from the street. It's only when you're driving a vehicle that the law gets triggered.
Recycling is a revenue source for the city and sanitation officials said the law was "designed to deter organized rings of recycling thefts" that cost the city more than $300,000 a year. |
Seems excessive to me, but maybe it's the norm for New York!
Full article-
http://wcbstv.com/local/recycling.fine.discarded.2.1800611.html |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Shouldn't be considered city property until city personelle actually retrieve it. The aunt both having her car impounded and being fined simply for owning the car the guy was driving also seems particularly excessive, regardless of how hungry New York City is for revenue. |
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geldedgoat
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Besides the obvious, I found two things in the artcile particularly interesting: 1) The man asked and was granted permission from someone he could reasonably assume to be the owner, and 2) a sanitation worker watched him commit the crime and decided to report the man instead of correcting him on the spot. |
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brickabrack
Joined: 17 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:28 am Post subject: |
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Ha. A spin on the term 'police state'.
"Recycling is a revenue source for the city and sanitation officials said the law was "designed to deter organized rings of recycling thefts" that cost the city more than $300,000 a year. "
Sounds like the bait and switch is more profitable for the city than the $300,000 pennies a year...pennies. NY. NY. So, then they're going to appeal. After that, weeks or months in small claims, time, taxpayer money, public servant time wasted. Eh, it keeps the economy chugging along.
I understand what some of the perpetrators are doing/thinking, but I still think it is asinine.  |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:36 am Post subject: |
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That's so retarded? Why are the law and many public officers against the people of the USA? Anyone to say they aren't is a liar. Any cop who sits and waits to conduct an ambush on citizens not causing trouble is a hater of his own countrymen. Any agency that is supposed to serve the people's best interests, but only looking to encumber them with excessive penalties is only working with an intent to promote a failed state where nothing works.
A $2000 fine is excessive. A warning and public notice to educate the people would be more appropriate. Might predatory behaviors our police and justice system engages in have something to do with lining greedy pockets in public office? It's way too easy to get in nonsensical trouble that only large sums of money can fix. |
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conrad2
Joined: 05 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:56 am Post subject: |
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| In the US, the main function of police departments is to drum up revenue for the state in the form of fines. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:20 am Post subject: |
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| brickabrack wrote: |
| Ha. A spin on the term 'police state'. |
Hey, Fox...
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"Recycling is a revenue source for the city and sanitation officials said the law was "designed to deter organized rings of recycling thefts" that cost the city more than $300,000 a year. "
Sounds like the bait and switch is more profitable for the city than the $300,000 pennies a year...pennies. NY. NY. |
For sure, the city spends much more than this on the agents to enforce this law.
So using a vehicle is what made it illegal? He should have picked it up, brought it next door, by which time it would legally be his, and then gotten the car.
Can I use a dolly? |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| The man should have smashed the A/C unit over the cops head and started the Revolution! |
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brickabrack
Joined: 17 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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^ Yes!!!!  |
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lukas
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Location: Bucheon
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| conrad2 wrote: |
| In the US, the main function of police departments is to drum up revenue for the state in the form of fines. |
+ 1 to that, and to the non-asshole cops I've encountered here in Korea.
There are some counties near my hometown known for giving tickets for speed limits exceeding one mile per hour over the limit. Absurd |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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Wow that is nuts. I've never heard of that before. I furnished half of my apartment in the East village that way in uni. I found a great wooden chair and sanded it and painted it blue.
Insanity. You'd think they'd be happy to have had the job made easier! |
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blomkvist
Joined: 14 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:31 am Post subject: |
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| The free section on Craigslist basically thrives off the "curb-side pick-ups". Interesting. |
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