{"id":801672,"date":"2026-05-16T23:52:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/801672\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T23:52:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:52:50","slug":"poop-patrol-nyc-council-wants-more-bags-signs-and-fines-to-get-rid-of-dog-waste-via-scoop-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/801672\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Poop patrol\u2019: NYC Council wants more bags, signs and fines to get rid of dog waste via \u2018SCOOP Act\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City Council members said Friday that this time, irresponsible dog owners across the city have really stepped in it.\n<\/p>\n

Local lawmakers gathered on May 15 at Tompkins Square Park Dog Run, along with New York City\u2019s Dog Mayor, Deputy Dog Mayor and the new Dog Speaker to drum up support for a collection of new bills aimed at deterring owners from ditching their dog\u2019s dookie<\/a> on the sidewalks, in city parks, and public spaces.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the council introduced the Safe and Clean Outdoor Ownership Practices (SCOOP) Act<\/a>, a set of five bills they hope will ease the rising complaints about the poop smeared across the city\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n

Council Speaker Julie Menin said the legislation aims to help improve cleanliness and quality of life across the five boroughs. At the same time, it is not meant to shame and blame the city\u2019s some 600,000 dogs or their caretakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about giving people more resources and gentle reminders to better care for their furry friends and their communities,\u201d Menin said.\n<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s introduction came after a veritable crap-load of complaints to 311 about dog waste during the city\u2019s coldest and snowiest winter in over a decade. The mess of melting snow and dog poop had the city in a heated discourse, which reverberated throughout social media and eventually up to the halls of Congress.<\/a><\/p>\n

Somehow, according to the New York Times, it quickly devolved into conservative Congress members making Islamophobic overtures toward New York\u2019s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, that had very little to do with the actual problem of frozen, crap-covered streets.<\/p>\n

\"sponsorsThe sponsors of the City Council SCOOP Act: Council Members Harvey Epstein and Justin Sanchez, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and Council Member Shahana Hanif.John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

But the snowy winter seemed to convince lawmakers that New York had stepped in \u201csomething much too soft to be concrete,\u201d as Menin put it, when it came to addressing the problem of lingering dog waste.<\/p>\n

Council Member Justin Sanchez (D-Bronx), who chairs the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, told amNewYork that the scourge of turds around the city deeply impacted New Yorkers\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThink about every day, our kids on their way to school, the amount of sneakers that parents have to clean and are ruined because their kids are not looking down at the ground,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cThink about our seniors who literally have to navigate around dog poop like it is an obstacle course at an amusement park. Finally, folks get actual time to just enjoy their communities, and that is the hope and the intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018SCOOP\u2019 on dog poop bills<\/p>\n

Sanchez sponsored a bill in the package that would require the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to implement enforcement procedures on city blocks that have had at least three 311 complaints about dog poop within a seven-day period. DSNY would either be responsible for cleaning up the block or informing property and pet owners of their civic duty to pick up after their pets, issuing up to $250 fines if needed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something Sanchez said isn\u2019t currently being enforced, noting that the city has issued a total of just 2 such summonses in 2025. Whether or not he thinks stepping up enforcement will make a dent in the doody, Sanchez said, \u201call we can do is try.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI think that New Yorkers are going to be super excited that finally someone is paying attention,\u201d Sanchez said.\n<\/p>\n

Another bill in the package by Council Member Harvey Epstein (D-Manhattan), who leads the Animal Welfare Caucus, would require the Parks Department to institute a pilot program to collect dog feces from dog runs for composting.<\/p>\n

Menin\u2019s bill will require DSNY and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to regularly stock dog waste bags at all 23,000 public litter baskets around the city. She told reporters at the rally that her bill expands on a pilot program to put dog was bag dispensers in city parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a very broad-based plan and one that will really work because so many dog owners say \u2018oh, I forgot the bag at home or I needed a second bag and I didn\u2019t have it\u2019 and it would be a constant reminder,\u201d Menin said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Sanitation Department has said in an email to amNewYork that it doesn\u2019t have the resources to keep litter baskets stocked with dog waste bags, adding that it would need community and city council partners to help shoulder the responsibility.<\/p>\n

A representative also told amNewYork that, regardless of legislation, catching poop perpetrators in the act is very difficult, as most people only leave their poop unscooped when they know no one is watching.<\/p>\n

Council Member Mercedes Narcisse (D-Brooklyn) sponsored a bill to post signage at the entrances and exits to parks and some Parks Department facilities, reminding users of their responsibility to pick up after their pets.<\/p>\n

Council Member Shahana Hanif, (D-Brooklyn) introduced a bill requiring DSNY and DOHMH to design a public information and outreach campaign about the dangers of leaving dog poop in communities.\n<\/p>\n

Allie Taylor, a Brooklyn homeowner and founder of Voters For Animal Rights, said that controlling dog waste benefits the entire city, not just pets and pet owners.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNo parent should have to worry about dog waste covering the sidewalks in front of their home or contaminating the parks where their children crawl, play, and learn to explore the world around them,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cDog waste is not just unpleasant, but it\u2019s a real public health issue and a quality of life issue for families across New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City Council members said Friday that this time, irresponsible dog owners across the city have really…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":801673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,88512,4654,44963,175377,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,45102,7926,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,237122],"class_list":{"0":"post-801672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dog-poop","10":"tag-dogs","11":"tag-dsny","12":"tag-julie-menin","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-nyc-council","20":"tag-pets","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa","27":"tag-winter-storm-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116586952746019938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}