Senator Simcha Felder and Councilman Kalman Yeger are both demanding an immediate investigation into the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) ticketing agents for issuing fraudulent ticket violations.
The duo of lawmakers are also calling for a long-term fix requiring all New York City Agencies issuing summonses to provide photo documentation of the violations they are citing and have already sponsored the legislation to make this possible. They revealed evidence of fraudulent sanitation tickets outside of DSNY headquarters.
“This system stinks! Dirty sanitation enforcement agents fabricate violations and issue tickets outside of routing hours while unscrupulous OATH officers bury the evidence. If the city wanted to solve this problem they could have done it long ago, but they have no incentive. The city makes out like a bandit by robbing hardworking New Yorkers,” said Senator Felder in a statement.
Felder and Yeger referred to a specific incident where a property owner checked security camera footage after receiving a sanitation summons by mail. The footage shows no evidence of an enforcement agent being in the area during routing hours, but an enforcement vehicle can be seen on camera an hour after regulations end.
Yeger says that he has frequently learned of instances where DSNY agents have issued false summonses in an effort to meet their quotas. He also says that 311 complaints of missed pickups result in a quota agent issuing a summons as a punishment for the complaint instead of making up for the missed pickup.
“We have brought these incidents to the attention of the Sanitation Department’s management, to no avail. Hopefully, this very clear evidence of corruption will push the Sanitation Department to taking action to reign in its rogue quota agents,” said Yeger.
Here are the photos the lawmakers used as evidence.
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell and Councilman Alan Maisel have both shown support for both the legislation sponsored by Felder and Yeger and the investigation into the DSNY agents.
According to a 2017 report by the NYC Comptroller’s office, “Quality of Life” violations that include sanitation violations generated $184 million.
The Mayor’s office and DSNY could not be immediately reached for comment.
