You can help fight rats by being one.
That’s not how the Department of Sanitation would put it, but with tickets for illegal dumping up 20 percent in the last fiscal year, the agency is reminding people that they can report the activity and get a piece of the action in return.
That also is not how the DSNY would put it, but if you tip off the city about illegal dumping and agents catch the perp, you can get up to 50 percent of the fine levied. Those fines start at $4,000.
Anyone who reports an act of illegal dumping in real time, so the city catches the person in the act, can remain anonymous and still get paid. If a summons is issued later, and the alleged lawbreaker challenges it rather than just pay, the tipster would have to appear at a hearing.
Illegal dumping is distinct from littering and involves refuse being discarded from a vehicle. The DSNY issued 872 tickets for it in fiscal 2025 and impounded 417 vehicles.
The form to report illegal dumping is found at tinyurl.com/33399ekp. Videos of the act being committed may be emailed to IllegalDumpingTips@dsny.nyc.gov.
— Peter C. Mastrosimone