Dog owners at the dog run in Madison Square Park say the park community is small, and no one would dare not pick up after their dog there. But it’s also made easier with several dispensers filled with bags to pick up dog poop set up around the run.

Now, a bill in the City Council introduced by Councilwoman Julie Menin would bring them to all city streets, attached to garbage cans. Dog owners said they like the idea — for themselves and so they don’t have to dodge dog waste on the sidewalk.

What You Need To Know

  • A City Council bill would put dog poop bags curbside on garbage cans
  • 2023 saw more than 2,300 complaints about dog poop left on city streets
  • Only 18 tickets were written in 2022 because someone must be caught in the act of not picking up after their dog

“If it helps people, then yeah," dog owner Lizzie Hindert said. "I've not had a bag, but I've stood there for 10 minutes waiting for a fellow dog owner to help me out."

"In the streets, it's gross," said Constance Brahimi, who owns two dogs. "I’m sure I’ve stepped in poop before.”

On Wednesday at a City Council hearing on the bill, city resident Danielle Avissar lamented that the situation in her Upper East Side neighborhood has only gotten worse since COVID-19.

“It really degrades our neighborhoods. We’re constantly looking down," said Avissar, who went to Menin with her concerns. "We can’t look up, we can’t look up at the buildings, appreciate any of the beauty around us.”

The city Department of Sanitation said last year, complaints to 311 over dog poop topped 2,300, but only 18 tickets were written to people for not cleaning it up. They said that’s because they need more proof than just a pile of dog waste.

“It’s a crime that has to be observed in the act for a ticket to be written," said Deputy Sanitation Commissioner Joshua Goodman at the City Council hearing. "We can walk up to an empty store and leave something about an improper setout of trash. We cannot walk up to a pile of dog waste and write a ticket.”

If someone is caught, the fine can be up to $250. While Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch is on board with the bill, she said the bag dispensers should be put on signs or lampposts instead of trash bins, since the trash cans be moved, primarily to empty them, but also for street fairs and other events.