80-year-old NYC woman fined $100 for throwing away her newspaper

[Newsjock]

Source: WPIX-TV

In fifty years of living in Manhattan, 80-year-old Delia Gluckin has never been fined for throwing anything into a city trash can -- until last Sunday.

Gluckin, of Inwood, left her house in a hurry to meet a friend downtown and took her morning paper with her instead of recycling at home. She was almost at the subway station when she spotted a receptacle and dropped in a plastic bag holding the newspaper and an empty Canola bottle.

An enforcement agent from the Sanitation Dept. immediately hurried over and informed her of her crime -- throwing out "household items" in a city can designated strictly for litter. It wasn't a warning, however, the agent wrote Gluckin a $100 ticket.

"I said, 'Look ma'am, I'm a senior citizen, I've never had a problem, never paid any fees at all, can't you give me a break?" Gluckin pleaded. Gluckin, who lives on social security, even offered to take the trash out and bring it with her, but it was also for naught.

Read more: http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-senior-citizen-ticketed,0,4438299.story

[Occulus]

1. This is Soviet-style authoritarianism.

I grew up learning that we didn't do that here.

We are what we learned to fear.

[davidinalameda]

2. was it the newspaper or the bottle that was the issue here

[badtoworse]

3. What difference does it make?

That enforcement agent could have had her take the bag out of the can and given her a warning. What a complete asshole.

[davidinalameda]

4. the oil bottle is household trash

the newspaper isn't

I don't feel bad for people like this woman; she broke the rules

the guy was doing his job; he doesn't make the rules, he only enforces them

tell her to take it up someone who can actually make the decision not to enforce the ticket

[badtoworse]

5. You've never been pulled over and let off with a warning?

[davidinalameda]

14. different situation

you need to ask if I've ever been written a ticket for dumping household trash in a public trashcan

and the answer to that is no, because I've never done it

[christx30]

9. I wouldn't have touched the ticket

look that enforcer in the eye and tell her to shove that ticket where the sun don't shine.
Then get the hell out of that Nanny State hell hole.
In Texas, we don't have people monitoring what we throw away. It's in the trash can. Good enough for us.

[davidinalameda]

13. and on the down side of that

you live in Texas

[christx30]

21. Nothing wrong with the Lone Star state

Not like in San Fran where the city council is banning Happy Meal toys or some crap like New York wanting to ban salt at restaurants. Or fining you for throwing garbage in the wrong can.
Some people just love to control others, I guess. What kind of damage must be in someone's brain that they have to control the middling details of someone's life? "I know how to live your life better than you do."

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. It's impossible to adequately reply to this post without breaking about 647 DU rules.

:mad:

[davidinalameda]

17. then don't

take your toys and go elsewhere to play

[brooklynite]

6. Not getting sympathy from me...

If it was just the newspaper, she wouldn't have gotten a ticket.

The fact that the newspaper, and a plastic bottle were in a bag says trash, and she could just have easily have dropped it off in a trash can at her apartment building.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. I'm confused. Don't you guys have city garbage pick-up in NY?

I understand enforcement in areas with private garbage service where there is incentive to get over on the city by "fly dumping" and not paying for private pick-up. But in an area with mostly city pick-up is there really THAT much of a problem that code enforcement writes citations?

My buddy has a place in Wisconsin. On our way home from a recent visit we stopped at a state park to use the bathrooms and dump a couple small bags of trash. Until we saw the sign threatening a $500 dollar fine. It make sense in a rural area so people with summer homes don't fill up park trash cans. We just hauled ours home to Chicago.

I've never heard of fines in Chicago but I suppose there is something on the books. Is it a big problem in NY?

[Kievan Rus]

7. Nanny-state crap like this hurts our cause

All it does is give people like Glenn Dreck and Rush inane talking points.

[The Straight Story]

8. Nanny state saves souls. Err lives. We are the new religion, and those who don't worship our way

Will be punished.

Smokers, abortions, overweight people, etc and so on.

When we spread our faith and punish those who don't follow, it is ok.

[Stevenmarc]

11. Welcome to living in NYC, Sanitation is always out writing fines

Had it been just a newspaper there wouldn't have been a fine, but I can pretty much guarantee that in her 80 years she's been slipping the odd bit of household trash into the public receptacle, this time she lost.

[BlueJazz]

12. She'll get fined more for throwing away a bottle than the entire Bush Administration for..

...lying to congress, the populace and the world. :rofl:

[ohheckyeah]

15. That puts it into perspective, doesn't it? n/t

[CreekDog]

18. The first infraction should just be a warning with no or minimal fine

only designed to educate.

$100 seems excessive for what she actually did, considering not paying for parking carries probably a lower fine as well as numerous other violations.

it's true that cities are running out of landfill space and the countryside has to give up developable land for landfills. not to mention that the lack of landfill space means it's more expensive to dispose of trash (for cities).

so this will need to be policed in some way, but i'd start out slower.

if someone gets a $10 or $20 fine, they probably won't want to get one again, but it likely won't harm them all that much --or far less than $100.

[Heywood J]

19. Are Sanitation officers deputized or peace officers? Do they carry a badge?

Unless that's the case, I don't see why you would have to show ID when they ask.

[Hannah Bell]

20. nyc is stepping up its ticketing to make up for its budget shortfalls & refusal to tax its rich.

that's my guess.

[name not needed]

22. How dare she throw her garbage in a garbage can!

I am appalled by her reckless actions :sarcasm:

[somone]

23. Solution is to drop it on the sidewalk, then pick it up and put it in

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/now_you_can_be_fined_for_throw.html