Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Sanitation Dept. "Shame" Stickers Abolished By City Council
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 19, 2012
Modified Jan 19, 2012
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
John Del Signore
Published Jan 19, 2012
Modified Jan 19, 2012
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
The City Council voted unanimously yesterday to do away with those despised shame stickers that city Sanitation enforcers slap on cars violating alternate-side street cleaning rules. The stickers were first introduced in the '80s and were inspired by a disgruntled property owner who got fed up with a car blocking his driveway and covered it with stickers. According to the Times, the Sanitation Commissioner noticed it, and soon the department's "scarlet letter stickers" were born. Sanitation insists they help keep the streets clear for the cleaning machines, but the City Council outlawed them anyway.
“Ticketing is supposed to help us enforce the law — not unfairly punish people with no chance for swift recourse,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn said yesterday, recalling that when her car got the dreaded sticker in college, it took her days to remove it. "It was a multiday effort. You almost have to chisel it." The bill was sponsored by Councilman David Greenfield, who has been deluged with sticker-shock complaints from constituents. "What makes this such a terrible infraction that you have to be punished in such a serious way?” Greenfield said yesterday. "It’s not reasonable behavior in the 21st century."
Sanitation workers slap 400 shame stickers on cars each day of alternate-side parking. At a hearing in November, Sanitation official John Nucatola insisted that the city’s streets were cleaner because of the stickers, and offered to alter them to make them easier to remove. Mayor Bloomberg is also pro-shame sticker; in November he famously remarked, "Don’t break the law. It’s almost like, you know, you murder your parents and then you say to the judge, ‘But I’m an orphan, you can’t put me in jail.’ Don’t murder your parents, you don’t have, you’re not an orphan, and in this case, don’t break the law you don’t have to worry about it."
While it's unclear if Bloomberg will veto the sticker-ban bill, Quinn says she has the two-thirds votes necessary to override any veto. The Council also passed a bill yesterday to give drivers a five-minute grace period at muni-meters; Bloomberg has said he will veto that one. And the City Council better not even think about legalizing parental homicide.
Tagged
alternate side parking
City Council
parking
sanitation department
shame stickers
street cleaning
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man found dead, police say, and injured woman is his mother, neighbors say
Police are investigating a related incident in which a 62-year-old woman was found injured beneath the Van Wyck Expressway.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. ET
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
News
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
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 .