Thanksgiving, 43rd Ave Style!

I cleaned the Avenue the day before T-giving. Wanting to enjoy the holiday and maintain a normal blood pressure, I avoided 43rd until today (Sunday). As expected, there was crap aplenty. Tom the Turkey left this behemoth for us:

 

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AND..... for those who overate on Thursday, and/or for peeps wanting to get a head start on their 2018 weight reduction goal, a dumper was kind enough to provide this device:

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If exercising, be sure to stay hydrated, Craphurst style! (Also please be sure that your tetanus vaccine is up to date before stepping on the exercise machine.)

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Oh, and the local talent was out as well:

No, Krill! NOT OKAY!!!

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Complaint #2017:ML9211724

Concerned neighbor

I passed a small apartment building in Brooklyn that had a modest collection of dead leaves and a few pieces of litter out front:

I barely even noticed this pile, having been a Craphurst resident for several years now. But someone taped this note to the front door: 

Wowzers! Upon reading the note I felt a sense of shame that I myself have grown so unfazed to a comparatively* small pile of crap that I didn't even register this as a dirty sidewalk condition (*compared to my neighborhood, where practically every domicile has a pile like this out front, but in addition to leaves and tissues our building fronts are decorated with old broken furniture and appliances, drug bags, Georgi bottles, bloody rags, pee bags/bottles, et cetera et cetera).

 The building in this photo was in Brooklyn, adjacent to the BQE, with a gas station on one corner, and blocks away from any stores or restaurants. The buildings on this block were nothing fancy, but they were NEAT. The sidewalks were immaculate (barring that in front of this building). People who live on this block make an effort- they keep their sidewalks clean, put out flower planters, decorations; even though it's not in a great location, through their efforts it looks like a nice, cozy block on which to live. Goes to show that even if you don't live in a pretty area, you can still make it a nice place by being a decent freaking person and at least keeping it clean!

Well, fear not, I returned to Craphurst shortly thereafter, and was greeted by the usual sight:

Pee bottle and empty booze bottles, in front of restaurants that were doing a booming business this Saturday night but didn't feel it necessary to take care of this mess out front. (Why bother, they had plenty of customers who didn't seem to care.) Yay Elmhurst!

Mail dumped on 43rd Ave, but who cares?

As someone who has had multiple packages stolen, along with one known (because it was important and expected) missing letter, and as the very same someone who has found a bundled pile of her mail- including a ripped open packet that once held a book she had ordered- on the sidewalk a block away, I always pay close attention to envelopes that I find while cleaning 43rd Ave. When I find an undelivered piece of mail I drop it in the nearest mailbox; if it is addressed to a nearby building, I just deliver it myself.

Today I found a PILE of letters, tucked UNDER the still-present smashed television (see previous post). These were addressed to 3 different addresses. I suspect that the mail carrier du jour* stuck them there. (*We have an awesome regular mail carrier, but unfortunately he has a lot vacation time, so we get a lot of subs.)

I really wanted to report these undelivered letters to, I dunno, the USPS Inspector. The title implies a person (or agency) that inspects-investigates-inquires about issues pertaining to mail. Well, first I tried the USPS Inspector's web site, but they only list a link to report stolen packages. I tried calling the phone number listed on the Inspector's site. After a good 7 minutes of "listening to the following options," I finally reached a human being. I explained to her that I had found a pile of undelivered mail, semi-hidden under a dumped TV on a notoriously sh*tty and lawless block. Her response?- "Hmm, maybe bring this to the attention of your mail carrier?"

I also asked a 311 operator what I should do about this sitch. She transferred me to the same USPS Inspector's toll-free number.

?!?!?!?!

Am I insane? Is it no longer a crime to (1)steal mail, or (2) to dump mail that you are entrusted by the public to deliver? What about that "Tampering with mail is a federal offense" line? Is that just a load of hooey? If anyone reading this has suggestions, or any leads on how to contact a postal authority who might actually give a tiny shred of a f*ck, please let me know!! In the meantime, I am going to document what I found with this post and the photo below, and drop these letters in a mailbox.

43rd Avenue between 74th and 72nd Street provides a perfect spot to catch up on your TV watching.

Just pull up a seat..... whoops, this photo is actually a couple weeks old; the DSNY❤️ has since removed this lovely piece of furniture:

This smashed up TV is still on the Avenue (when I checked last Sunday at least). It may not broadcast programs anymore, but there is still enough screen left to reflect the activities on 43rd Avenue. If you like to watch hours of people doing drugs, engaging in prostitution, and dumping furniture and appliances and construction debris, then pop a squat! Watch where you sit though, or you may well end up with a used jizz sack stuck to the seat of your pants.

Need a refreshment while watching the tv "show"-? Take a frothy gulp from this p-bottle.

UPDATE: Sunday, August 6, 2017: The TV and Microwave have been removed!! Thank you DSNY❤️❤️😘

Attempted Rape on 43rd Avenue and 74th Street

110 Precinct's Tweet from 7/22/17: 

At 440am we received a report for an attempted rape in the vicinity of 74St & 43Ave by a Male 5ft5in. Anyone with info plz call the 110pct

(718) 476-9311 Precinct Phone Number

(800) 577-TIPS CrimeStoppers Hotline

Please be careful everyone!!! 

Update-- I found more details posted on the COMET site:

"Saturday 7/22/17, at approximately 4:42 am patrol officers received a call from a sexual assault in the vicinity of 74th Street and 43 Ave. Upon arrival officers were met by a 28 year old female Hispanic who stated that she was walking home from the 74th Street and Broadway train station and when she arrived at her home she noticed a male standing behind her. The male then threw her to the ground and placed his hands over her mouth, while attempting to pull up her skirt. The victim was able to scream for help and the perpetrator ran off in an unknown direction. The case is currently being investigated by Special Victims Squad, if anyone has any info about the incident please contact the 110th Detective squad at 718-476-9318. I will keep you updated on the case as I receive more information. Thank you. - Det. Jeanine Rivera, 110th Pct."

A before and after of sorts

The residents of this building on 74th Street between Woodside and 41st Avenues-- (corrected, thanks to the commenter below) don't mind if the front of their domicile looks like this.

UPDATE: July 24, 2017:

I only had the strength to fill one can, but I picked up most of the litter. Maybe this will inspire the residents to clean up the overgrown grass and weeds and keep their lil tree pit lookin' better. Yeah, dum spiro, spero!

Drug Moose*

*or reindeer?---- anyway, someone with antlers

Last night I spotted the following eviscerated item on a sidewalk near 43rd Avenue:

I don't know FOR SURE if this creature once had cocaine sewn inside its belly, but really, what are the alternatives? The belly wasn't ripped open by a puppy- it looks like a straight incision, made by a (human-wielded) blade. Maybe a kid cut open the beloved toy of another kid with whom he is feuding. But in these druggy, sh*tty parts, I think the drug mule scenario is more likely.

Lemon Yellow Bags of Goodness*

*if by "goodness" one means "construction debris"

Complaint # 2017-17-L-3807694

Called in Sunday, July 2, 2017

UPDATE: I checked the Ave again on July 4, and the yellow bags were gone. Thank you DSNY!🍭🌷❤️😘

Early B-day Gift!

This morning, I stepped out of the house to find a gift basket from a neighbor:

How did I know this was from a neighbor? Because he left his calling card, literally!---actually, he left an entire BOX of business cards in this pile, in addition to Christmas cards (with accompanying envelopes bearing his address) from his Maw in Indiana. I do not recognize this person's name, but apparently he lives in a building a block away. I wonder how, and why, he decided to walk this box to my residence. Did he think I needed a box of used manilla folders, personal correspondence, dirty socks and underwear, bootleg CDs, and his business cards? My birthday is coming up, but how did this stranger know?!

I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I did not really like what he picked out for me. So, I did what any decent person would do: I put it all in a bag for him, taped his address to the top, and delivered it to his front door.

Hey, I don't want to be an unappreciative gift receiver, but I was a bit insulted by the tastelessness of his gift. I mean, who wants to receive underwear, much less DIRTY underwear, from a STRANGER? (Okay, probably a lot of perverts would pay good money for a stranger's used underthings, but I'm not one of them!!! .... which goes to show the importance of actually getting to know someone before picking out a gift for them. I mean really!)

I was also annoyed with this Dirty Santa because his business cards scattered over the sidewalk and curb, and my obese self had to get down on hands and knees to pick them up from the fecal-ful tree pit and even from under a parked car.

See that tube with the green label? Tis 'roid  cream. Presumably this was another scattered item from the gift pile. This is the only part of the gift basket that may come in use, as the whole experience proved to be an enormous pain in my ass!!

Pissus crackiolus ..... and other highlights of the 43rd Avenue Garbage Show

On either end of 43rd Avenue (72nd Street and 74th Street), the garbage enthusiast will behold a cornucopia of filth: note, if you will, the three car tires, the assorted Heftys blooming with vibrant colors (some fine upstanding and considerate person cleaned out their closet?), as well as several sealed(-ish) bags containing mystery goods. And some of the lovely individuals who frequent this block have added their personal touch to the tableau: empty food containers. Yes, thank you, 43rd Avenue artistes!

                               *****

And wowzers, an actual fleur has pushed its weary head up from the cracks! This sad blogger is not a botanist, so she cannot tell you the name of a plant so hardy as to bloom and thrive in a sea of piss sprinkled with our local fertilzer: the white powder left in the tiny plastic baggies. Perhaps the Latin name is Pissus crackiolus?! 

Service Request #C-111-417-927121; called in to 311 Saturday, June 10, 2017.

UPDATE: On Saturday, June 17, 2017, these trash piles are no longer present. Thank you DSNY!!!!❤️

A 43rd Avenue Artistic Composition

I know, yet another gross used condom flung on the public thoroughfare, because f*ck decency and self-respect. But the colors here are so pretty- a Springlike pink juxtaposed with green... (okay, I guess I'm just really desperate  to find anything good on the Avenue:(

Surprise! More dumping on 43rd Ave!

Overnight:

Someone added a bag of household trash to the Blair Witch sculpture (see previous post).

And once again, a bag of construction debris, plus a window:

Service Request #: C1-1-1399949491

Date Submitted: 04/30/17 9:08:41 AM

Request Type: Dirty Condition

Details: Sidewalk Dirty

UPDATE: When I checked the Ave yesterday (5/6), these items were gone. Thank you DSNY!!!❤️❤️❤️

Blair Witch Visits 43rd Avenue!!!

Her work is getting sloppy when you compare this big bundled heap to the intricate little stick mobiles displayed in the 1999 film!

After gobbling up those whiney self-styled filmmaker college kids, she became addicted to whatever drugs were in their systems.... she went off the rails, so to speak, flew out of the Burkettsville forest seeking a similar high, and, like many a druggy loser, found herself on 43rd Ave between 72nd and 74th. (Another pile of bundled sticks was found on Woodside between the same cross streets.)

Note the Mott's bottle. It was NOT filled with apple juice. I guess even supernatural beings have to pee, and she did it like the locals, in a bottle. Thanks Blair beeyatch!

I guess she got a lil action while she was here, for this was nearby:

More likely actually: some piece of crap human cleaned his or her property and drove the detritus to the neighborhood dump: the 43rd Avenue sidewalk. :(

The Easter Bunny Visited the Avenue...

... and left a big ol' bag of crack! Maybe it was a gift for the 43rd Avenue druggy losers, who certainly wouldn't appreciate anything of the Russell Stover variety.

In all seriousness, good thing we found this before some kid did. The local church hosts an egg hunt so there were a lot of little kiddles on the Avenue early this morn. 

Keep crackin' 43rd!

43rd Avenue Spring Extravaganza! Tags, Booze, Drug Bags

I cleaned 43rd Ave Friday night and Sunday morning. Yesterday afternoon, the Avenue was still pretty darn spotless, if I do say so myself. But apparently some *lovely individuals* came 'round overnight. This morning residents were greeted with evidence of a visit from some fine upstanding people who are making the most of their lives and contributing greatly to society (sarcasm is my alternative to expressions of hopeless despair).

Several tags appeared on the overpass. By the time I arrived, a wonderful neighbor had already remediated those tags and all that remained were the ones on the sidewalk. 

Graffiti like this is not even creative or artistic- this person just spraypainted letters (their name or initials?). This kind of breaks my heart. I imagine Panday must feel very impotent and sad, and somehow has the idea that spraying his or her name on a public space is a means of asserting ownership/power/control. I feel bad for a person who seems to have such a tenuous grasp on self-esteem. Panday, please, you are better than this! You can do things to make your community better- every one of us has this POWER; every gesture, no matter how small, can be a force for change. You get to decide if you want that change to be positive or negative. Please Panday, help, don't hurt!

(Wow, what the heck just came over me?! Sorry blogosphere; I'll get back to being my usual bitchy self now.)

So Spring has sprung, and the Avenue is a'bloom with the usual goodies. These just bloomed overnight, in fact. Let's take a look!

Behold ye 43rd Abenue whitefish:

Some libation to get one in the mood (or to wash away the memories after the deed was done?):

And of course it wouldn't be 43rd Avenue without a smattering of drug baggies:

Welcome, Spring!!

Need a contractor? Hang around 44th and 43rd Aves, and eventually you'll meet a dirtbag builder while he or she is unloading a truckful of construction debris onto the sidewalk...

What the ever-loving f*ck is so hard to understand? Driving to a residential block to unload your construction debris is not okay.  This should be obvious, but for those who are decency-impaired, the city is kind enough to provide guidance via signs such as these:

Yet look what I found just a few feet from this sign:

This was on 44th Avenue. But fear not, 43rd had some dumping action as well: 

This is a very large bag of cardboard boxes, with address labels bearing some crapster's name and an addy in Sunnyside.

Service Request #: C1-1-1390982001

Date Submitted: 04/08/17 7:20:43 PM