Metro

Hanging offense: LI laundry ban

Residents of a village on Long Island’s Gold Coast are turning up their noses at their neighbors’ dirty laundry.

Great Neck Village officials have made it a crime to hang laundry on clotheslines in front of homes. The punishment is a maximum fine of $1,000 or 15 days in jail.

“I think it looks bad, and it makes the area look low-class,’’ said Great Neck resident Wendy Sales.

Sales said that she has seen a family at her apartment building spread laundry “out to dry on the bushes out front, like a tenement.”

“If you go to Old Westbury, you don’t see laundry hanging on the line — get a washer and dryer!’’ she said.

The ordinance passed earlier this week.

It also bans clotheslines within 10 feet of any property line, although backyard lines are allowed.

“The actions of a few have made it necessary to pass this law,’’ said Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman.

He added that he does “not believe that hanging clothes in a front yard is appropriate behavior.”

Some residents said the law was a waste of time, noting that most people have washers and dryers.