Who wants to jump into this JUICY pile of clothes?

Looks like fun, right? Akin to those Chuck E Cheese ball bins. Or Scrooge MacDuck's coin-filled swimming pool. Yeah, dive right in and swim around in some discarded clothing... and belts, bags, a plastic keyboard, puzzles and other broken/missing-pieces-of toys, etc etc. I can't guarantee that you will not encounter bed bugs, feces, or urine (sure it has rained on these items a few times, but you never really know what they are wet with). Anyway, enjoy, this colorful addition to the 74th Street sidewalk. I know I sure do! Yeah!!

Neighbor's lawn ornament

 

Update: June 1, 8am.

Last night it rained and rained and rained, and more rain is expected today. So now this pile (which has grown over the weekend, since this photo was taken) really is trash: I mean, I don't think that even a bootleg used clothing company would pick up a mildewed pile of clothing. (The company name on the box is Spingreen, fyi, but good luck trying to contact THEM directly.)

 

This situation makes me so sad. I'll take more photos today. The front part of the lawn is covered with other, "regular" household garbage including a large suitcase that has been there for weeks, a mattress frame, and now the mattress itself, as well as half-assedly-bagged garbage, and stray litter all over. So, it's a pretty depressing situation. I reported the sitch to 311 several times. The problem is that since the bin is on his own property (lawn), they cannot remove it. I contacted my community board, and they said the same thing pretty much. They did alert Sanitation, but they expect that all that can be done is that Sanitation will keep giving the guy tickets for a filthy yard. Oh, and people have also started to add  food "donations" to the pile: this weekend there was a case of Westbrae soy milk containers. (I put "donations" in quotes because I doubt that any of the food items are actually safe to eat anymore.) Why, why?!? I am so disgusted. How can someone live like this? Forget about how obnoxious it is to subject one's neighbors to this, but how can he himself live in this filth? He has a pretty young wife, and a couple of young children, and this is what he subjects his own family to?? Why doesn't SOMEONE in that house take responsibility for cleaning up their property?- the wife, the renters, SOMEONE?!?!? I can't take it!

 

I guess this is how we live in Elmhurst, huh? We just enjoy a garbage dump of a lifestyle.

 

Update: June 1, 7pm

The clothing piles have been removed! The bin still on the property though, so I'm sure it will be back to normal (ie, a filthy pile of clothing) in no time. But I'll enjoy the clothing-free side yard as long as possible (a few hours?).

 

Now, about the FRONT lawn...

 

So I got my first death threat :o(

Ye Local Crack House

 

A few months ago, I wrote a post about the empty building on the corner of 43rd Avenue and 74th Street. It was built around 2011, but the owner supposedly ran out of money (tho he drives a shiny new luxury car), so it has been sitting vacant (of legal/paying tenants at least). Neighbors have told me that they see people go in and out. I had never witnessed this myself, until this past Sunday (May 24).

 

I have to set the scene a little: it was a beautiful sunny day, around noon. Families- yes, including lil kiddles- were walking about, to and from the two churches in the immediate vicinity. When I was coming upon the corner of 43rd and 74th, I noticed 5 or 6 teenaged-appearing people, including one gal, circling the abandoned house. I thought, what the heck, they can't be seriously considering plopping down and unwrapping their stash in broad daylight with all these people walking around. But no, of course not. They were planning to do their business INSIDE the festering crap hole house.

Point of entry?

I paced back and forth on the 43rd Avenue side, trying to make my presence (and watching eyes) obvious. When I got to the front of the building, the kids were no longer there. I heard them inside, banging around. I assume one of them crawled in through one of the broken windows on the side and then unlocked the door for the others. In any event, they were in there, bikes and all. I couldn't believe it. At first I thought maybe one of the kids was related to the owner, because they weren't even trying to be discreet about being in there. Honestly, that's why I didn't call 911 right away. I kind of stood there dumbfounded. After only a minute or two, though, the FRONT DOOR burst open, and all of the kids stormed out. Most of them hopped on their bikes and sped away. However, one gentleman paused long enough to let his fury be known.

 

There was an elderly man walking in front of the building, just passing by, but I guess he made the mistake of glancing at this little effer who had just stormed out of the front door. The kid started hollering at the old man, stuff like "What the F--- you looking at?! I'll F--- you up!" Then he noticed me standing there just staring at him in disgust, and also a young woman who had just parked her car in front of the building. He turned his attention to me and the other lady too, and said to all three of us collectively the same kind of thing.

I couldn't help it: I said something along the lines of "What were you doing in there? It's not your house." And he replied/hollered, "So what?" and more along the lines of "Eff you! I'll eff you up". Then finally he said "I'll pop you!" [this is the phrase that I interpreted as a death threat, cause like, that's what "pop you" means, no?- tho I admit that I'm not totally up to date on slang terms of today's youth]. Anyway, he hopped on his bicycle and sped away after that. I was pretty shocked and unnerved, and really really angry. I asked the young lady who had just parked if she thought I should call 911, and she said yea-zers!, so I did. I mean, even tho the little effers were gone, at least the cops could see that the door was wide open and that someone obviously had broken in. Three cop cars showed up, and 6 police officers went in. They said it was real dirty, and I'm pretty sure that one of them said something about finding drug leavings (if I find so many drug baggies OUTSIDE that house, I can only imagine how many must be inside). So, hopefully the precinct at least has this local crackhouse on its radar now!

Some additional points and thoughts:

1.The little effer who yelled at me and the other two people bore a striking resemblance to the "43rd Avenue Artist" that I imagined in a recent post. He was VERY scrawny- I thought to myself at the time that his arms looked like stringbeans. I certainly wasn't afraid that he could do any physical harm if we were to fight mano a mano, but his RAGE and temper were terrifying. If, God forbid, this idiot ever were to procure a gun, I think he would really end up shooting someone.

 

2. The little effer was wearing a surprisingly* holiday-appropriate garment: t'was Memorial Day weekend, and he had on a tank top with an American flag design. [*I say "surprisingly" because I wouldn't expect that people who break into gross crackhouses to do drugs would care about Memorial Day or any other holiday... honestly, it was probably just a coincidence.]

 

3. What REALLY freaked me out about this encounter is that I relayed it to some friends (okay, I posted it on f-book, but just for a few hours), and other people seemed freaked out by it. My friend's mother has some serious psychic abilities. Scoff if you will, but I know of too many things that she has been "right" about. Anyway, when she read about this encounter, she wrote that she sensed "great danger" around me, and told me that I should stop confronting criminals (obviously) and even trying to clean up. Her warnings pretty much were enough to keep me off 43rd Avenue the rest of the weekend.

So, yeah, I'm kind of freaked out. I feel VERY conspicuous doing my OGCLE cleanup now (luckily I had done it Saturday morning, ie, before I encountered the little angry fella).

 

Here is the only photo I caught of the group of kids zooming away.

Pull up a seat!

I don't know why someone would choose to remove a perfectly decent appearing car seat (I mean, there are no rips or stains). But if you have to do it, the place to leave it is 43rd Avenue of course! I am sure that the drug smoking losers appreciate having a place to rest their weary bones- all of that smoke could make them lightheaded, poor dears!

 

**** I reported this to 311 on Sunday morning, the day I spotted it. Of course, Sunday afternoon was ~eventful~ to say the least (see next post), and I've been too chicken to go back to the Ave to see if this car seat was hauled away yet. 

As to WHY someone would ditch a car seat, someone suggested that it was from a stolen car that was being used for drag racing (and hence, would need to be as light as possible). Well, nothing surprises me anymore. 

Absolutely Revolting

The bin that my neighbor planted on his lawn about a week ago looks worse every day.

:o(

 

Related posts:

 

http://ogcle.blogspot.com/2015/05/hey-heres-neat-way-to-make-few-extra.html

 

http://ogcle.blogspot.com/2015/05/lawn-ornament-just-got-little-dangerous.html

 

This is what the front of the house looks like:

http://ogcle.blogspot.com/2015_04_01_archive.html

Warm weather dumping continues

 

 

I just did an OGCLE clean-up of 43rd Avenue on Saturday. It was spotless- both sidewalks and gutters- when I finished. It didn't look bad on Sunday afternoon either. But when I walked down the Avenue this morning, I was appalled. It was DISGUSTING. I had only brought a little shopping bag for garbage, because I was on my way to work and planned to just do a perfunctory clean-up. Also, for some stupid reason I never imagined that SO much trash would accumulate in just 3 days. But it surely did. I filled my shopping bag before I even made it halfway down the block. At the end of the block (closer to 72nd Street), I found an actual dump pile: a huge TV (pictured), along with a couple bags of clothing. And lotsa litter too. I had to go home to get a real trash bag, and managed to bag up most of the debris, except for the TV obviously. It looks pretty small in this photo, but trust me, it's a biggy. I submitted a report/pick-up request to 311 just now.


Service Request #: C1-1-1105243881
Date Submitted: 05/20/15 1:41:10 PM
Request Type: Dirty Condition
Details: Dumping

I am SO tired of picking up after people. The crap on 43rd Avenue today included a lot of the nasty stuff that the Ave is known for (to readers of this blog, at least): many drug baggies, blunt wrappers, condom wrappers... but thankfully no whitefish today! It's just SO disgusting!! Situation Team, please, come visit 43rd Avenue ASAP!!!!

Lawn ornament just got a little dangerous!

Last week I wrote about my neighbor's new lawn ornament, ie, a clothing collection bin. It was quickly stuffed to overflowing. I thought the main problem with this bin would be the fact that it is visually unappealing, seeing as it results in piles of discarded clothing strewn about the lawn. (I must admit, the discarded and unbagged clothing fits with the outdoor decorating theme of this property; check out all the crap on the front lawn!) But now this stuffed-to-capacity clothing bin is posing an actual danger, in that the sharp metal edge of the unclosable drawer juts out onto the sidewalk. So imagine you're strolling up the block, distracted by your phone (or, more likely, near-blackout drunk)... you may not notice this metal drawer in your path, especially because it's not really lit very well down this block at night, and WHACK.


UPDATE: May 19, 2015
A neighbor told me that the collection truck emptied this bin (the cultish sounding "Springreen" company?) just a day ago. But it is already stuffed to overflowing again.

Check it out: someone even attempted to deposit a puzzle, I guess! (or maybe the puzzle pieces are intentionally placed lawn décor elements).

Local loser outlosers himself!

The area between 44th and Woodside Avenues, in the 70s, has been hit with silly looking crying-eye tags. They filthify overpass walls, mailboxes, and poles. Now this idiot has found a new canvas: the actual street! I have never seen a tag on a street before.

This is 44th Avenue between 74th and 76th.

 

~~Thank you to the Woodside Neighborhood Association and Fire Alarm Guy for painting over so many of these stupid-eyeball tags this weekend!~~  I guess it's up to the city to do something about the pavement tag!

Warm Weather Dumpfest Begins

The items below were dumped by the blue construction fence surrounding the abandoned lot on 43rd Avenue. This particular section of 43rd Avenue (shown in this old post) is popular amongst dumpers. It is where people dump their nastiest stuff: eg, loose piles of toiletries and personal items, old clothes, bodily waste, etc. [As a matter of fact, the background image I used for this blog depicts a typical dumping in this location; yummy, right?] I notice that when people dump a single large item like a mattress or couch, they leave it on the more heavily trafficked other side of the Avenue, usually right by the overpass. Maybe they think that a passing Sanitation truck will be more likely to notice it and pick it up that way (since they have to pick up garbage from the neighboring houses). But this blue construction fence area seems to be where people dump stuff when they just don't care. Thus, things are spread all over, and the mess is really really gross. Last summer I found a dead rat under such a pile, as well as a Starbucks cup full of feces (and I'm not just taking a dig at Starbux coffee; I mean, there was actual feces in the cup). So now when I see something like this, I call 311. I hate to subject the DSNY to such grossness, but at least they have had training and use proper gear (thick non-permeable gloves, etc) so that they are, hopefully, protected when they have to dispose of unknown substances.

I called this in late Friday night, May 8, 2015 (2015MLCO05336). It was gone the next day. Best of all, a DSNY superintendent actually left me a voicemail message to say that the pile had been collected. Woohoo!! I love the DSNY! They really are the best.

May 8, 2015 Pile

A Pastoral Dialogue, Elmhurst style

*This dialogue takes place entirely in my imagination, unfortunately. I have yet to actually meet our beloved 43rd Avenue "artist". 

 

Locus: 43rd Avenue, the construction fence around the abandoned lot
Tempus: 9:39pm on a Tuesday
Personae: One scrawny little effer who is not-even-surreptitiously applying graffiti to the fence that it took me FOUR HOURS to paint, and one OGCLE.

OGCLE: Excuse me sir! [this line is delivered in the shrillest of voice]

Artist: What the f--- [he is startled enough to almost drop the can]. B*tch, what the f?!

OGCLE: Sir, with all due respect, I ask that you stop spraypainting.

Artist: [turns back to his great work in progress and starts spraying some more] Mind your own business.

OGCLE: Since I live here, this is my business.

Artist: Yeah, and who the f- are you?

OGCLE: Are you serious? [deep sigh] I happen to be the OGCLE.

Artist: Sheeet, you damn right you ugly. And fat.

OGCLE: Not "ugly". OGCLE. As in Obsessed Garbage Collecting Lady of Elmhurst.
[The Artist stares blankly]

OGCLE: I walk around picking up litter from 43rd Avenue??

Artist: [wrinkles his face in disgust] Thaz nasty. What kinda loser are you, dang! Anywayz, you gonna be the DEAD-le if you don't stop yappin at me.

OGCLE: Your threats are meaningless, for I have decided that it is my mission to un-filthify 43rd Avenue, even if I must sacrifice my own life to do so! You see, I simply cannot tolerate living in filth. The litter you see all around you, that constitutes a large part of the filth. No one likes to slip and slide on used condoms and fish heads while strolling along the sidewalk. But another part of the filth is graffiti.

Artist: B*tch, you crazy. And you annoying me. And 'sides, I can't help it, yo. When I gotz the itch, I gotta CREATE!

OGCLE: What do you mean? You have an "itch" to run outside and deface property?

Artist: [grins smugly] I ain't defacing nothing. I am claiming it. SDL all da way!

OGCLE: What does that even stand fo- oh, who care? Yes, you are defacing this fence! Look, you may have talent, I don't know, I mean, it looks like you can draw, a, uh, wavy line. But please understand that your work does not belong here. You can create glorious pieces of art, in, say, a sketchbook. Or, on an actual canvas.

Artist: The world is my canvas, beeaytch! [at this point, the Artist sighs and digs something out of his schoolbag. The OGCLE momentarily worries that it is a gun, but seeing how the kid looks like he barely weighs 90 pounds, she doubts he could even hold a gun steady enough to shoot it. It turns out that the Artist was reaching for a can of Heinekin. He pops it open.]

Artist: All this yapping made me thirsty. [He takes a gulp, and noticably gags, but forces it back down.]Yeah, just needed a lil refreshment. Thaz right, I drink BEER, not water.

OGCLE: That reminds me of England in the 1700s: Londoners were actually safer drinking beer because the water had fukall in it- cholera, you name it-

Artist: B*tch, SHUT THE EFF UP! [The sip of beer has clearly made this kid drunk, and clearly he is not a happy drunk.]

OGCLE: Yeah, you're right, I'm sick of talking to you anyway. I am just going to call 911.

Artist: Yeah, you do and you'll be real sorry. I gotz friends, you know, friends who are a little sick of you interferin with they relaxation time, you know.

OGCLE: Oh, do you mean those boys who smoke pot across the street every night?

Artist: [stomps his feet in a manner that brings to mind Rumplestilskin.] Ain't no "boys" here!!-- we are all MEN-

OGCLE: [trying to suppress a giggle] Come on, you can't be more than 14.

Artist: I AM TWENTY-SIX YEARS OLD!

OGCLE: You're kidding. Wow.

Artist: [Still irate, huffing and puffing and walking in circles] Don't you see my goatee?! Only a MAN can grow facial hair like that!

OGCLE: [squinting close] Those three little hairs? I have the same thing. Congratulations. You have the same amount of facial hair as a 30-something year old woman. But that's not the point. The point is, what the heck kind of loser are you? You are a grown man indeed, and this is what you do??

Artist: -------

[What happens next?! Did the OGCLE push too far? Will the Artist actually whip out a gun at this point, and/or spray OGCLE in the eyes with paint? Or will he turn his anger inward, and take another gulp of beer, thus rendering himself too drunk to care?? Sorry to leave you in suspense, but I have to go home now.]

P.S. In all seriousness people, if you see some loser spraypainting, call 911 immediately! The 110 just arrested two losers because a good citizen called 911 on them. And a few weeks ago the 108 (I think) arrested two OTHER losers in Sunnyside, who were caught red-handed (or maybe purple-handed, green-handed, I dunno what color they were working with, but it was on their hands). Truth be told, the Artist depicted in this work of theatrical genius is based on one of the Sunnyside graffiti a-holes, even though they never actually tagged this far uptown.

Elmhurst lawn ornament! (AYFKMWTS)

 

Years ago, a brilliant and witty young lady name Erica blogged about the crazy stuff in her Brooklyn neighborhood. When something was just so astounding that it left her at a loss for words (and she was a very verbose gal normally), she would just post a photo with the headline AYFKMWTS???? (translation: Are You F*ckin Kidding Me With This Sh*t????)

When I saw this new addition to my neighbor's lawn, I thought of dear Erica. That string of letters seemed like the only appropriate thing to say about this.

I noticed this lawn ornament about a week ago. Of course, in that short span of time, people have stuffed it so full that it no longer closes, and threw additional bags on top and on the side. Again, this is in someone's freakin backyard (well, side yard I guess). Is this even legal?? I don't know, I guess so. Sanitation only removes bins from public property. Ah well, it will make an interesting point along the Elmhurst house tour at least!

Clothing collection bin on someone's lawn

Rest in Peace, Officer Moore

I feel like I've been doing a lot of pretend/wannabe police work on 43rd Avenue, but the truth is, I'm just a civilian. If I came face to face with real danger, I'm sure my instinct would be to RUN the other way. I think the majority of people would do the same (except for some drunks and crazies who would get confrontational). But there is a minority of exceptional human beings in this world who actually run TOWARD danger, to help not themselves or their own loved ones, but complete and total strangers. I'm talking of course about first responders- firefighters, police, and emergency medical personnel. I cannot even comprehend how brave a person has to be to rush towards danger, to, say, confront a seedy and shifty looking dude who is suspiciously adjusting his waistband. But that is what Officer Moore did on Saturday night, when he was patrolling Queens Village. He saw some guy whom he suspected of having a gun, and, following his duty to serve and protect the people in that community, he stopped that person, and tragedy ensued.

I found this photo online, and I just love it. He emits such love and light and kindness.
 I wish I could have met him- I'm sure he brightened the lives of all who knew him.

When I first heard about the shooting on the news, I didn't feel worried for some reason. I just had a strong feeling that he would be okay, even though the reports were grim. I was thus shocked to learn, just now, that he passed away.

What a short short life- 25 years! But what a brave and special person he was to have lived those years (at least the last 5, officially) in dedication and service to his fellow man.

Rest in peace, Officer Moore.

Brian of the buds and diaper leaves

Maybe I am crazy and everyone else is normal. After all, I stood on 43rd Avenue for a good 20 minutes last night watching the group of druggies who were engaged in their nightly activity on this block. To pass the time, I sang Sleater Kinney songs and did some leg stretches. I tried to photograph and videotape them, as discreetly as possible.

 

After the first 10 minutes, one of the people from the group walked to my corner. He didn't say anything and didn't make eye contact. I guess he just wanted to see who I was: crazy person? (yes, probably), irate old lady who hates drug use? (check), undercover cop? (nah, I wouldn't be so obvious about my position). I think he just scratched his head (figuratively at least) and went back to the group, where no doubt a fat doobie was waiting for him. I continued my vigil for a little while longer, then finally decided to head on out. I walked right by the kids. Of course the smell of the wackYweed was strong when I passed. I didn't look at them, they ignored me, and that was that, right?

Arrows point to the group of pot smokers who gather on 43rd Avenue
every night around 9pm

 

I walked up to 44th Avenue next. Immediately a new graffiti tag caught my eyeball. (And ironically enough, the tag seemed to depict an actual eyeball.) This looks vaguely familiar, but I can't be sure. Anyway, I was so disgusted, especially because our wonderful Woodside Avenger had recently painted over all of the tags on this overpass. The overpass is due for a full repainting- hopefully sometimes this Spring- because the paint is chipping.

Some loser's work on the 44th Avenue overpass graffiti: a crying eye?

I took out my phone and photographed this tag, shaking my head in disgust and probably uttering some, er, indelicate words. The sidewalk was deserted, but a car drove alongside me slowly and parked in a space at the end of the block, which was very dark. A youngish man got out just as I was walking by his car. He extended his hand and said "Hi, I'm Brian." He seemed very polite (geez, I have like no street smarts, right?), and I shook his hand back and I guess I told him my first name. He was well spoken and polite, and made chit chat about what I was doing walking around here or something, and asked if I lived in the area. I told him I did, and he asked for how long, and I said for 5 years. Somehow I got to talking about (okay, b*tching about) the graffiti, I guess because he had seen me just snap a photo of the crap above. I said I was so disgusted by graffiti and litter. He asked me why I cared. He didn't have any kind of judgmental or threatening (eg, "mind your own business") or annoyed tone; he seemed generally curious as to why someone might give a crap about crap. So I tried to explain as calmly as possible that I live here, and I don't like to see our walls tagged on, nor do I like to see garbage everywhere, particularly the vile garbage like used condoms and drug baggies. To bolster my point, I brought up the fact that many children live nearby, and hundred more walk through here every day on their way to the public school and nursery school on 72nd Street. Brian agreed that the used condoms were disgusting, and said that he sees all kinds of nasty stuff around here ("someone's always getting busy!" were his exact words). He said that he often sees people having sex on the side of the abandoned 74th Street building. Remembering his manners then, he asked me if I smoked, and gestured as if to offer me a puff of his smokable nicotine (so I thought) stick. I caught a whiff of the weed then, and realized that it was not a cig he was smoking. I declined, and told him that the only time I'd tried that had been like 15 years ago, and inhaling made me feel like I couldn't breathe and it was an incredibly painful and scary experience. He said I should give it a go sometime again, but not in a pressuring way. And he put me off guard a little when he said I have "nice eyes" (which seems hard to believe seeing as I was crying in rage and frustration over the standoff with the 43rd Ave crowd, but maybe potheads are hot for red-eyed girls). Then he proceeded to extoll the virtues of the weed, and talked about buds and something called "diaper leaves" (did I get that right?), and said that nowadays weed is very pure and healthy, and I should google medicinal madge and I could learn all about it's health benefits, and the different kinds- purple, etc. I kind of lost track. Anyway, eventually he finished his smoke, and we bid each other adieu.

So who was this polite fella? Some possibilities:
1. An undercover cop. (Maybe they have developed a cig that emits something that smells just like pot smoke, for when they are doing undercover work-?) I mean, surely (hopefully!) there must be SOME undercover cops in the area, seeing as all this horrible stuff from nightly drug use to murder goes on here. And I certainly must be suspicious character with all my standing on corners glaring at drug-smokers.
2. A local drug dealer who wanted to see if I was some kind of threat. [I think this is the most likely scenario.]
3. Occam's Razor. He was just a random pot smoker who encountered a neighbor on a Sunday night and was making polite conversation. [This seems very unlikely, because who would step out of their vehicle, joint already lit, and start talking up a person about whom he knows nothing- ie, maybe I'm a cop myself, or a crazy lady, or someone who's going to start hollering and calling 911 on him, etc.]

So, I don't know what to make of last night's events. Part of me is kind of proud that the drug guys on both 43rd and 44th Ave have taken notice of the presence of a person who is keeping an (evil) eye on their activities. Oddly, I don't feel much fear, mostly just fury.

Elmhurst Decorating Tip: Yes You Can Reuse That I.V. Tubing!

I spotted this on 75th Street. Yes, tis used I.V. tubing that some artistic soul thought would look nice draped around a fence in front of someone's house.

The yellow of the shredded alert tag adds a burst of color too!

We're only a few blocks from the hospital, so I'm actually surprised that I don't see more of this (i.e., home decor using medical waste).