The Bronx Borough President tried for nearly a year to cajole dog owners to clean up after their pets.
He held a joint press conference last October with the city’s sanitation commissioner. He bumped up the number of enforcement agents, and warned “pooper traitors” that fines would be $250.
The Majora Carter Group offers Hunts Points residents free signs that they can post outside their homes. ADAM PEREZ/BronxInk
Still, the New York Daily News reported in March that summonses for failing to clean up were down by 28 percent, while the streets were as filthy as ever.
And Bronx residents have decided to try to take matters into their own hands. “Limpialo!” or “Pick it Up!” a grassroots initiative organized by residents and the Majora Carter Group was launched in February. It aims to use peer pressure where government enforcement has failed.
“Most of the folks around here have a difficult relationship with the police and government telling them what to do,” said James Chase, an advocate at the Majora Carter Group who helped spearhead Limpialo!
Chase’s solution was to take a neighborly approach. He designed a sign and posted it along Hunts Point Avenue and neighboring streets. The bright yellow sign has an image of a dog squatting with simple written message: Pick it up!
“These are your neighbors asking you to do something, obviously they are not going to fine you,” Chase added. “You depend on them and they depend on you.”
Some residents on Faile Street have resorted to make-shift signs warning dog walkers. ADAM PEREZ/BronxInk