February 17, 2007
By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper
Don’t leave your house on a windy day — it could cost you $100.
A Bensonhurst environmental leader is fighting two summons she received for trash she says was blown on her front lawn — and her local community board wants answers from the Department of Sanitation.
Theresa Maresca, who helped found a Bensonhurst recycling program, among her other green works, said she received the two $100 citations for pieces of paper that were blown into her yard when she was not there.
“I go to bed crying at night over the irony that the environmentalist of the year is getting a slap in the face from the DOS,” said Maresca.
“I am the kind of woman who doesn’t walk by a piece of trash on the street without picking it up. I can’t express to you how upsetting this is.”
To show her commitment — and demonstrate what she called the absurdity of the Sanitation Department’s enforcement effort — Maresca attended a recent Community Board 11 meeting with a plastic bag filled with scraps of trash she claims were blown into her yard.
CB11 District Manager Howard Feuer said that Maresca’s is one of several complaints his office received from residents who believe that Sanitation agents unfairly ticketed them.
“We are aware of this and we are going to take care of it,” Feuer said.
The community board passed a resolution requesting that the DOS stop issuing summonses until the board has time to complete a review.
“They are just looking for more revenue,” added CB11 Chairman Bill Guarinello. “This is a clear abuse of the public.”
A Sanitation spokesperson would not comment for this story.
Meanwhile, Maresca will bring her bag of trash, her tears and her “Not guilty” plea to court next week to fight the charges.
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