Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Elderly Woman Fined $100 For Dumping Trash In Can
By
Chris O'Shea
Published Jul 5, 2011
Modified Jul 5, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Chris O'Shea
Published Jul 5, 2011
Modified Jul 5, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Today's lesson: Sanitation Department workers aren't all as lovable as Roc. When they have bad days, they will make sure someone feels their wrath. Darbe Pitofsky, an 83-year-old Upper East Sider, learned this lesson the hard way. She says that she was recently chased down and screamed at by a sanitation agent; then given a $100 fine, all for dumping her trash in a corner trash receptacle.
According to Pitofsky, she was leaving her apartment one morning and dumped a bag full of newspapers into a nearby can. It was then that things went bad. A Sanitation Department agent allegedly came running up to Pitofsky, demanding that she admit to having dumped trash in the trash can. According to the Sanitation Department, street cans are for pedestrian use only. We'd love to get into the technicalities behind when a person becomes a pedestrian, but we've got to stay on task here.
When Pitofsky admitted she had deposited her trash in the can, the agent reportedly went nuts. Disrespect a trash can, and you disrespect a Sanitation agent. According to Pitofsky, the man began to yell, "You know you can't do that! Give me your ID! Give me your ID or I'm going to bring you in!"
Pitofsky imagined the worst. "I thought he was going to put me in a cell," she told The New York Post. Pitofsky then offered to get her ID from her apartment, and the agent followed her to her building. Once she retrieved it, he wrote the ticket for $100. When Pitofsky expressed shock at the fee, the agent allegedly shot back, "You want me to make it $300?!"
If Pitofsky's story is correct, we can't help but wonder: Is it possible that the Papa John's Sanitation Department vigilante is back? Lord help us all if he is.
Tagged
garbage
newspapers
pedestrian
sanitation department
trash
upper east side
Chris O'Shea
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
GOP candidates in NY face a changed landscape on immigration
The 'migrant crisis' has changed markedly since the voters went to the polls two years ago.
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 28, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
Mamdani plans redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue after nurse killed in hit-and-run
Sunset Park residents and street safety advocates have called on city officials to make the avenue safer for years.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
Mamdani plans redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue after nurse killed in hit-and-run
Sunset Park residents and street safety advocates have called on city officials to make the avenue safer for years.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
NJ Gov. Sherrill: Election is secure, noncitizens taken off voter rolls
By
Michael Sol Warren
Ex-NYPD officer again faces murder charge in George Washington Bridge shooting
By
Samantha Max
Former NYC buildings boss helped reopen mayor's favored restaurant despite health violations
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .