By Gus Saltonstall
A strange saga looks to be playing out on the Upper West Side.
A sign that recently went up in the neighborhood indicates that a local resident’s bicycle has repeatedly been smeared with dog poop.
“To whoever has been putting dog poop on my bicycle: You should be ashamed of yourself. Smearing feces on someone’s property is not how adult communicate,” the handwritten sign reads. “It’s childish, disrespectful and disgusting. If there was a problem with where my bike was parked, you could have simply left me a note asking me to move it. I would have done it.”
The photo of the sign was sent in by a West Side Rag tipster, who said he spotted the message on Thursday morning on West 86th Street and West End Avenue.
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But dogs can’t write, can they?
Sounds like the author of the sign had been a persistent and flagrant violator of parking rules and decency.
Why do you say that? It might be but it also might be personal or a more general “I hate bikes” message.
It’s legitimate to speculate that the bike owner has done something to piss off a pedestrian who is a local resident.
The bike folks get upset at cars that annoy them and pedestrians that annoy them. But the bike folks think that they are sacrosanct. That is also why e-bikes are such an issue now.
nooooo excuses for this
What would you do if a bike rider nearly hit you on the sidewalk?
I know what I WOULDN’T doo doo
Recently, I was walking on the street and observed a man allowing his large dog to lift its leg and urinate all over a parked car. When I shouted out, “Hey dont let your dog do that”, I was met with the usual indignant aggressive response you get from dog owners and was told that his dog does this frequently. I’m embarrassed to be a dog owner in NYC now. Whether in the parks or on the streets dog owners have become a nuisance and health problem. They’re a scourge #notallbutmost
The leashless dogs really bother me as well.
The leashless humans even more.
Bill? Or Karen?
I am 100% not defending that dog or his owner. I have only had girl dogs. What are the boys supposed to do? Can they be taught not to lift their legs? Are fire hydrants fair game? Cars, trees and the sides of building are out so what does that leave?
Stop allowing your dog pee on other people’s property. Maybe you two need to go to obedience school.
Curb your dog
“Boys” or not, dogs don’t need to combine peeing with target practice. Curb them.
I saw a girl dog go right in the doorway of a butcher shop.market on 72nd Street. No way anyone entering, or exiting the store could have not stepped in that.. Another passerby said something to the owner – who didn’t care.
The curb.
As in “Curb Your Dog”.
Meaning, technically, OFF the curb.
In the gutter.
Where rain or wastewater flushes it into the sewer system.
See how that works?
If a dog – even a “boy” dog, – can be trained not to lift his/her/their/its leg onto your mattress or sofa, it likely can be trained not to piss on vehicles, flora, or Other Peoples’ homes.
Dog urine is acetic.
It corrodes metal, so destroys the bases of fire hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, bus shelters, etc..
Dog urine’s high levels of nitrogen and salts burns treebark,.
it kills very expensive and treasured street and park trees, lawns and tree pit plantings.
Dog urine smells.
Especially in the summer months (a cold enough winter will turn it into slippery ice patches treacherous to the elderly.).
And especially on the UWS, where the canine to human ratio must be the closest 1:1 correspondence of any place on the planet. As a prodigious producer of dog waste, the neighborhood smells.
So, yeah, Curb Your Dog.
not sure about my dog, with people like you, i will surely curb my enthusiasm.
Hubcaps are fair game and have been for decades since the invention of hubcaps. (And now rims).
Couldn’t agree more, fingerwagger — however, it seems like many dogs refuse to “go” unless they are on grass. I see people lifting their dogs and placing them in treewells to “go”. When confronted they say “the dog won’t go anywhere else.” What do you do about this?
Sorry. If a dog is “refusing to go”, that’s because s/he’s walking you, instead of the other way round. Train your dogs and they’ll learn.
I can only assume you meant that dog urine is “ascetic”, and engaging in a life of discipline and meditative self-restraint, because dog urine, like that of basically all mammals, is neutral pH.
In an unhealthy animal, it can get down to the 6.5 range, which is roughly the equivalent of…milk.
Why Do Lampposts and Streetlights Fall Over? The Unexpected Culprit: Dogs
Urban infrastructure is designed to withstand various environmental factors, from harsh weather to heavy traffic. However, one unexpected culprit contributing to the deterioration and eventual falling of lampposts and streetlights is a more common urban companion: dogs. As odd as it may sound, the cumulative effects of dogs urinating on these structures can lead to significant damage over time. But just how does this phenomenon occur, and how can we prevent it?
The Chemistry Behind the Damage
Dog urine contains a variety of chemicals, including ammonia and salts, which can be highly corrosive to materials commonly used in streetlights and lampposts, such as metal and concrete. Here’s a closer look at how these components affect these structures:
Ammonia and Corrosion
Ammonia, a compound found in dog urine, is particularly corrosive to metals. When dogs urinate on lampposts and streetlights, the ammonia reacts with the metal surfaces, accelerating the corrosion process. Over time, this weakens the structural integrity of the poles, making them more susceptible to falling.
Salts and Concrete Erosion
The salts present in dog urine are also detrimental, especially to concrete bases. These salts can seep into the porous structure of concrete, causing it to break down and erode. This erosion compromises the stability of the lampposts, increasing the risk of them toppling over.
The Cumulative Effect
While a single instance of a dog urinating on a lamppost may seem harmless, the cumulative effect of multiple dogs repeatedly marking the same spot can lead to significant damage over time. Urban areas with high foot traffic and numerous dogs can see accelerated deterioration of their streetlights and lampposts.
Over time, these materials can degrade, leading to increased maintenance costs and safety hazards.
are you really struggling to understand the issue with allowing your dog to URINATE on someone’s property? seriously??
*IF* the property was left at the curb, *AND* the dog is being “curbed” — that is, properly being walked *AT* the curb — then perhaps the fault lies with the person who intentionally left his or her property in the place where dogs are EXPECTED to urinate.
If you don’t want dogs being curbed to pee on your car, then perhaps don’t leave your car at the curb.
All dogs should be curb trained! which means they take one step off the curb and urinate/defecate in the street between parked cars. They can lift their leg on the curb itself. No dog should be allowed to just pee in the middle of the sidewalk. It’s not hard to train your dog to do this.
Right on! I had a large dog whom I trained to do just that.
It worked for his entire life.
1) Lock your bike inside to avoid this
2) Dog owner should have their face smeared in whatever comes out of their pup if they’re found
Not ALL communication is verbal. And it looks like the message was received.
Once I had my BRAND NEW(!) car parked in front of 104 W 70th and some miscreant left a bag of dog doo on my roof for no reason at all. I was perfectly parked an inch away from the curb with more than a foot between the cars in back and in front of me. The trash can was 10 freakin’ feet away! WTF is wrong with people???
I’m a dog owner, and I’ll always carry the poop bag to an appropriate trash receptacle. But I constantly see other dog owners leave their bag on the sidewalk, on a pile of trash bags awaiting pickup, or in (or on top of) a compost container. The Dept of Sanitation will not pick up any of these so we’re left with a mess on the sidewalk. It’s entirely possible that your miscreant had no issue with you, but simple found your car’s roof a convenient place to drop the bag they just didn’t feel like carrying.
Might have been the result of a “Man Bites Dog” incident. I’m certain there’s more to this story. Bike owner must have really pissed the dog owner off sometime.
Anyway, keep me posted WS Rag.
This is the code violation, as others have mentioned ”curb your dog” is not a made up term.
Health Code § 161.03 Control of dogs and other animals to prevent
nuisance. A person who owns, possesses or controls a dog, cat or other animal shall not permit the animal to commit a nuisance on a sidewalk of any public place, on a floor, wall, stairway or roof of any public or private premises used in common by the public, or on a fence, wall or stairway of a building abutting on a public place.
Notes to § 161.03
This section is derived from S.C. § 227. Specific reference is made to cats as well as dogs. The reference to walls within premises is new. Under New York City Criminal Courts Act § 102c a magistrate is empowered to try and punish a violation of this section as an offense punishable by a fine of $25 or ten days imprisonment, or both.
While this is disgusting and revolting, I have a question:: How does the bike owner know that it’s dog poop?
Regarding the issue, it amuses me because, if it is dog poop, it brings into collision two of the elements that are hurting the UWS: bicycles and dogs.
Dog poop tastes very different than human poop.
In other poop news, there was human poop in the middle of the 72nd St 1/2/3 station at 7pm on a weeknight earlier this week.
That’s probably because Trader Joe”s closed their bathrooms!
What else is new?
I agree with the note. Regardless of whether the biker parked his bike in an acceptable or unacceptable place, smearing feces and vandalizing his property is unacceptable and, frankly, a health hazard. What’s next, justifying violence as an acceptable form of protest…?
Horrible
Cyclists and dog owners: both awful.
Nuance is awful.
Who’s left? 🤷🏻♀️
Please pick up after your dogs. There is poop everywhere.
I would not be surprised if urbanists who are pro bike accused EVSA of doing this!