"Taxi Cab Syndrome"

I saw a news blurb about a recently published review article by urologists at Home Depot Infirmary NYU Langone Medical Center (citation below). This article draws attention to the very disturbing fact that cab drivers do not have time or opportunity to void regularly. As disgusted as I am by the Elmhurst water balloons, I realize that they are a sign of a very real humanitarian problem: people who drive cabs are denied the basic dignity of being able to void regularly (in a proper receptacle, I mean), and this can have very harmful effects on their bodies.

Cab drivers do not have time to stop and try to (1)find parking and (2)find a public restroom. Cab drivers work pretty much constantly during their longgggg shifts (usually 12 hours or thereabouts), trying to find enough fares to just break even some days, much less make a profit. Second of all, I have personally noticed that fast food joints and chains in the ciuidad are becoming stricter about the use of their facilities; it is becoming common practice to print a bathroom code on a receipt because the bathrooms are kept locked to the non-costumer. [As a customer, I appreciate this policy; hopefully this will cut down on the general filth of Starbux bathrooms, which often serve as public bathhouses, and even as hook-up spots... true story: once I waited outside a Bay Ridge Starbux bathroom for about 15 minutes after a teen couple went in; heck, it's cheaper than a motel.]

The article points out the deleterious GU effects that result from irregular voiding: "voiding dysfunction, infertility, urolithiasis, bladder cancer, and urinary infections."

What can be done about this? I've only read the abstract so far, so I don't know what the experts recommend. I think the simple, cheap, and generally effective solution would be to encourage cab drivers to invest in a bedside urinal. These things can be purchased for a buck or two in any medical supply store (or ordered online in bulk). They can be used right in the car (I would hope users also invest in a bottle of hand sanitizer), and emptied in a gutter. Thus, no more P-bags or Poland Spring amber-liquid bottles, no more creepy episodes of public urination, and, hopefully, regular voiding and less GU pathology for cabbies.

 

 

Mass AY, Goldfarb DS, Shah O. Taxi cab syndrome: a review of the extensive genitourinary pathology experienced by taxi cab drivers and what we can do to help. Reviews in Urology 2014;16(3):99-104.       

To sum up:

October 25 on the Avenue

This past Saturday, 43rd Avenue was visited by the Woodside Neighborhood Association. The Woodside crew is composed of volunteers who perform hands-on work including garbage pick-up, graffiti remediation, weed whacking, planting, etc. The really remarkable thing about this group is that it is composed of a great many kids. When I was 12, I doubt that I would have spent my Saturday morning painting over graffiti or picking up litter. But the kids in the WNA are great: mature, dedicated, and very careful/conscientious in their work.

Wonderful volunteers of the Woodside Neighborhood
Association hard at work on 43rd Avenue

The Woodside volunteers painted the railroad overpass, as well as the final piece of the graffiti-covered temporary fence around the abandoned lot. They also cleaned up the weeds and the fallen leaves, and picked up trash. This was a big crew, and they worked for many hours. I am so grateful for their visit to the Avenue! And I am sure that other people who live nearby appreciate their work as well. One of the neighbors I met Saturday said as much: he was an older gentleman walking with a cane. He stopped to watch the activity. He said that he was so saddened by the way people treat this area, throwing garbage all over, etc., and he thanked us for trying to clean it up. I would guess that there are other neighbors like him, ie, people who are really bothered by the filth of 43rd but do not have the physical ability to pick up trash themselves. They are left to depend on their more able-bodied neighbors, but for whatever reason, these folks do not step up. Why people do not take responsibility for garbage - even if it's right on their own property- I do not know. "Garbage indifference" (I came across that term on the CleanUpJamaica blog) is prevalent around here. I thought of some possible explanations for garbage indifference:

1. People renting apartments may consider litter management the building owner's (or super's) responsibility.
2. People feel like picking up litter- even from their own front lawn- is pointless since litter is everywhere. I admit that this was my attitude for 4 years.
3. They are not bothered by litter. I watched enough TLC shows to realize that there are some people who seem to have a high tolerance for filth and crap and junk, etc.

Of these, the 2nd is probably the most likely explanation for garbage indifference. That is, people are not really indifferent at all, but there is just SO much litter that they are overwhelmed at the thought of trying to clean up. They feel like they have no choice but to live in filth.

Some people realize that they DO have a choice, though. This very morning as I was making my way to the train station filling a bag with 74th Street litter, I noticed that a young man stooped down every few feet and picked up a few pieces of litter (he did not have a bag with him, but he picked up as much as he could carry in his bare hands). I should have said something to him as we unloaded our collections into the garbage can on the corner, but honestly I was too surprised to speak. I thought of him for the entire train ride to work though, and belately came up with some words of wisdom for fellow litter-picker-uppers:

(1) Accept the fact that litter pick-up is a Sisyphean task, but do it anyway. I guarantee that as soon as you pick up a piece of litter, someone will come along a few minutes later and replace it. The streets will probably never be completely litter-free. Hence, litter-pickin-upping can seem futile and pointless. But it's not!!! I promise you, it's worth it. It does make a difference. People notice, and if they can, they will take measures to combat litter as well (either by picking up litter themselves, or at least being conscious about not adding more litter).

(2) Protect yourself! During my daily 74th Street pick-ups, I find litter that likely has saliva or phlegm on it (bottles, tissues, forks, coffee cups, straws). I've seen bloody litter too (bloody bandages and tissues). And don't even get me started on the kinds of things I find on 43rd. So, please do not use your bare hands to touch litter/potential fomites. You never know what pathogens are present.

*******************************************************

 I shall leave you with the highlights of this weekend's 43rd Avenue trash. (Thankfully there was no dumping this week!!!)

Envelope with cigar(?blunt?) that I found on the side of the Avenue's vacant house

I don't even know what to make of this stack of Activia yogurts on the railroad overpass



The  preferred (by the OGCLE) alternative to the Elmhurst Water Balloon. If this is what I think it is (as opposed to apple juice), then the person who produced it really needs to drink more water.

October 17-18, 2014

I checked 43rd Avenue Friday night, and found this modest* pile (*I guess my standards are so low by now that I consider this pile relatively benign); it included the following:

• the backs of a couple old televisions
• window frames with glass
• a bag of rusted aerosol cans of cleaning fluid (not pictured)

I was conflicted about calling 311 at first since it would have been easy to just drag these few items home and put them out with my own garbage. But I wasn't sure if Sanitation would pick up such items with household trash, and, more importantly, I wanted to make an official complaint about yet another incident of illegal dumping in the same exact spot as the illegal dumping incident of the week before, and the week before that, etc. Oh, and I wasn't too eager to handle the bag of aerosol cans of mystery fluid; I told the 311 operator about these, so hopefully the Sanitation workers who collected them were forewarned.

 

Complaint number 2014MLCO04729; called in 10/17/14

 

Pile of dumped materials that I noticed on October 17, 2014

 

The pile was gone by the next morning. Woohoo!!!

Thank you (again!) DSNY!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am happy to report that this weekend someone began Phase II of the 43rd Avenue Clean-Up Project. [Phase I=basics like trash removal, while Phase II involves beautification attempts such as planting perty flowers or, in this case, graffiti remediation.] Someone painted the graffitied-upon and generally dilapidated-to-the-point-of-being-wrist-slashingly-depressing temporary fence that serves as a beacon to people who are looking for a place to unload their household and industrial waste. The temporary fence surrounds yet another abandoned piece of the Avenue. Once upon a time there was a decent-sized house here; it was torn down several years ago, and the property (which someone nominally owns, according to the Buildings Department sign) has been untouched since. Wait, I take that back: this past April a man collecting bottles made a horrible find either in the confines of the lot or along the adjacent railroad tracks. The few and pithy media accounts gave vague and conflicting reports of the exact location, but I can tell you that for a couple days the fence was open just enough for police and forensics personnel to stream in and out, and the sidewalk along the entire length of the fence was taped off from the public. I didn't know what was going on at the time, and the cops would only say that they were "conducting an investigation." I hope they can solve this case; I feel SO bad for the person they found here. I just pray that they will be identified and can have a proper burial.

Ugh, who knows what other horrible things are in that abandoned lot? Sometimes I peek through the cracks, but all I see is a field full of 4-foot-high weeds. I suppose all  that we (the folks who live nearby) can do is take care of the situation on the other side of the fence.

Anyway, here are the Before and After pictures.



Arrow pointing to the "nasty corner"-- the exact location of most of the piles I encounter.



Perhaps now that the fence is cleaned up a bit, people will be less likely to assume this is an abandoned property/area and less likely to dump here-?!?!? Ya think? Or was that poor tired fence painter just incredibly naïve?

Look out!

The October 3-5, 2014 Report.

Thankfully there were no 311-worthy piles of garbage on 43rd Avenue this weekend. Just the usual scattered debris, e.g.:



Empty bottle, condom box, and condom wrapper
(thankfully they did not leave behind an Elmhurst whitefish) 


 

Friday was a wild night on 43rd, as usual. Someone enjoyed a bottle of Hennessy and some adult time.

The only interesting (in an unusual/disturbing way) find was a freakin' LAWN DART. This thing was scary. It was surprisingly heavy, and I imagine it could cause serious injury. I  have since looked up lawn darts, and found that they were in fact responsible for several deaths. The Consumer Safety Commission issued an alert and ban in 1997. I don't know how or why this one ended up here. For one thing, there are no lawns. What the heck was this dart used for? I don't really want to know, actually.

On a non-garbage note: Saturday night around 9pm I was walking along a dark stretch of Woodside Avenue when a creepy thing happened: a big white van was keeping pace with me. It was going almost as slowly as I was walking (there weren't many other cars sharing the road). A guy in the passenger seat was leaning out the window making some sort of vocalization that sounded like "ooh, ooh!" in my direction (I had my headphones on so I couldn't make out what- if anything- he was trying to articulate). At one point I stopped in my tracks, and the van stopped too, but thankfully there were a few other cars on the road by that time so the van had to restart a moment later. I kind of slowed down so he(?) would have to keep driving along with the other cars, and that is how I lost him. But still, it was pretty unnerving. I have to remember that Halloween approacheth, and the neighborhood gets even sketchier on Halloween (I haven't witnessed anything myself, but my neighbor who has lived here 20+ years has all kinds of stories; Halloween is supposedly a big gang initiation night). So everyone please be wary, especially of big, white, new-looking, unmarked vans!

October 8, 2014. My poor confused neighbor R.M.

At this point in my career as an amateur garbage collector (is it week 3 already?), I really should not be surprised by anything I find on 43rd Avenue. However, despite the fact that I have picked up a wide range of nasty goodies, up until last night I was still under the naïve belief that I would be safe from having to handle a stranger's underwear. Alas, here is the scene that greeted me:





And....



 



Here's a close-up of one of the labels, with the addressee's
 name and addy obscured.

I don't know how long this pile had been there. I usually only walk the Avenue on Saturdays and Sundays, because I don't have time to clean during the week and seeing garbage piles upsets me greatly. However, I guess I was feeling wild and crazy last night, because I took a chance and stole a glance down 43rd Avenue. Even in the dark from down the block, and despite my deteriorating visual acuity, I could see a big pile in the usual dumping spot. In addition to the underwear, there was a stack of cardboard boxes and a big trash bag full of what feels like paint cans. Interestingly, the boxes all had address labels still affixed. This makes me think that (1) the person who dumped these boxes  (R.M., the addressee?) really isn't very bright, or (2) maybe the boxes were stolen from R.M.'s front step and it was the thief who left the boxes on 43rd. But I don't think this is the case. The boxes were stacked somewhat neatly. If someone were going to steal boxes from someone's property, would they want to keep them stacked together? It seems more logical to dispose of them in separate places, or just toss them over the fence to the railroad tracks. My guess is that R.M. was considerate enough to try to keep his or her pile of crap more or less neat and in one place, because that would make things easier for the magic garbage fairy. (FWIW, I picture a garbage fairy looking like Courtney Love circa 1995: a hot mess, furious but in possession of an indomitable spirit and a pure heart. When people see her at work they say "Thank you! I love you for doing this" and she snarls back, "How do you know you can love me?" as she tosses another Styrofoam takeout  bucket into her garbage bag.)     

 

 

Smashed on 43rd

October 5, 2014
Walking on 43rd Avenue between 74th and 72nd around 10am Sunday, I noticed a van that was the latest victim of the 43rd Avenue car-window smasher. There have been incidents of car-window-smashing over the years, but last I'd heard, the problem was somewhat under control. Apparently not anymore :o(

FYI, the white  stuff on the side was my Photoshop version of 43rd Décor (graffiti). That is, it was not present in real life (somehow this vehicle escaped the attention of the local graffiti artists). I just didn't think that the van owner would want his or her business's  name and contact info on my snarky blog.

Home sweet home! You too can squat in this luxury condo on 43rd Ave!



View from the front.

This building went up fairly quickly a couple years ago, but it was never completed. For a few years, there was a shoddy, graffitied-upon, always-falling-down temporary fence around it. After neighbors called in many a'complaint to 311, the owner(?) came by about a month ago, took down the ugly fence, and removed a lot of garbage that had piled up. But I haven't seen him since. Now there is no fence around the structure, and at least one ground-floor window is broken. Graffiti has been added to the back door (heck, let's just refer to graffiti as "43rd Avenue Décor" at this point). Most disturbingly, for the past week I have noticed that either the side or back door is always open a few inches. Saturday morn, I hollered a "Hello" and rang the bell, thinking maybe the owner was inside. But no one answered. I moved on and returned a few minutes later to find that the door had been shut and locked. SO, my brilliant mind deduced that someone was inside....someone who did not want to answer the door {da da daaaaam!} I am worried that since this empty building is open to the public, people are living in it, or at least hanging out.

Oh, and there was a powerful odor of feces coming from the open door. Whatever happened to not sh*tting where you eat*?? (*eat, smoke crack, same difference)

This building is around the corner from a large elementary school and a Preschool. In other words, many people- including ChildPeople- have to walk by every day. That's pretty messed up.

View from the back. Left: an old mattress covers the broken window on the side of the building. Either this back door or the side door has been ajar every time I passed for the last week or two.

Service Request #: C1-1-1020638231
Date Submitted: 10/06/14 1:21:54 PM

 

October 4, 2014-- illegal dumping, offensively bad art

Called in Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, Complaint # 2014-MLJ-506931

 

Below are photographic highlights of the dumping I noticed this past Saturday (Oct. 4, 2014). Again, this is on 43rd Avenue between 72nd and 74th Streets.

 

If I produced such crappy art, I would be inclined to dump it as well. These drawings convey no depth, no suggestion of three-dimensionality. There is evidence of a rudimentary understanding of shading (the man's lips are decently drawn). The sketch of the man is also slightly more interesting due to the details (the goatee, sunglasses). But overall, I would guess that these drawings were executed by an artist(e) aged 9 years or younger.

 

Oh, was that rude of me? Well, ye great artist(e), I think it's pretty rude of you to dump a pile of crap in my neighborhood! If it were just your lousy drawing I would gladly dispose of it myself, but you also decided to leave me several rusty cans that are too heavy to lift (and that contain who knows what chemicals), some splintery pieces of wood, and, oh yes, your disgusting swivel chair. You are horrible!! I wish I knew where you lived so I could deliver a batch of lousy drawings to your doorstep.

Welcome to scenic 43rd Avenue :(

So, here are the items I found on 43rd Avenue last Saturday (9/27/14) and this morning (10/4/14).

To sum up: 5 mini drug baggies and a vial. I also found the larger drug bag earlier this week (see "High Times" post), but I did not save it for this group photo.

I attempted to label each bag with the date I found it, and with the location (der, 43rd Avenue, between 72nd and 74th).

High Times on Woodside Avenue

"Masta Kush"  bag-- found on the corner of 74th and Woodside Avenue
Thursday 10/2/14, 8am
 

Is this for real? Did this relatively large bag once hold a substance called "Masta(u?) Kush"? I seriously think this may be a joke. Why would someone write the actual name of a drug on the bag? Do they also hand-label baggies containing more serious drugs, like "Black Tar Special" on a bag of cheap smack? Seeing this makes me think of  a soccer mom drawing smiley faces on her kid's sandwich bags as she packs his lunch in the morning. Well, whatever, at least I HOPE that this is fake/a joke, because it was a pretty sizable bag. Oh yeah, and as you can sort of see in the pic, there was some greenery left in the bag, and I can't imagine anyone would leave anything behind.... unless Masta Kush is such a cheap, crappy, seed-filled variety that the buyer doesn't mind leaving behind a few unsmoked scraps... actually, maybe it does say Mastu Kush, which sounds like a fake knockoff of the much cooler-sounding Masta Kush. Maybe Mastu Kush is the Kennedy Fried Chicken of weed.