Recycling violations skyrocketed to nearly 56,000 citywide in the first six months of Mayor de Blasio’s tenure, a 47 percent surge over the same period last year under Mayor Bloomberg and 24 percent higher than in the first half of 2012.
Critics slammed de Blasio for the ticket blitz, saying it’s a blatant grab for greenbacks rather than a sign City Hall is going green.
“It’s really a shakedown,” said a co-op super on the Upper East Side, where summonses spiked 80 percent. “They’re opening the compactor bags, and if they see one piece of paper, they write us up.”
The blizzard of tickets — which range from $25 fines for small apartment buildings to $100 for stores or large apartment buildings — amounts to $2.3 million.
“It’s troublesome to see this in light of his statements about small-business owners,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, referring to Hizzoner’s pledge to make city agencies less “punitive.”
The revenue from ticketing landlords, merchants and co-op boards will go to pay down a bloated city budget, predicted Strasburg.
Supers described the enforcement barrage as unprecedented. One said his 40-unit building would receive one or two summonses every couple of years — but has been slapped with seven since March.
“This started in January or February,” said another building manager in the East 50s. “I never had a problem before. We’ve had 11 or 12 [violations] this year.”
The Sanitation Department has 13 more inspectors this fiscal year.
De Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell attributed the spike to a new “rigid plastics” recycling category, enacted in April 2013, that requires items like shampoo bottles and hangers be recycled with other plastics.
He also said inspectors diverted by Hurricane Sandy in 2013 returned to enforcement in 2014.
The Post analysis of ticket data shows some areas hard hit by Sandy were issued few violations in early 2013, leading to a statistical spike in 2014.
But most of these areas showed increases this year even when compared to pre-Sandy 2012.
And some areas less affected by Sandy also saw huge bumps — including Murray Hill/Gramercy (up 197 percent), Midtown (171 percent) and East Harlem (176 percent) between 2013 and 2014.
“This is a troubling trend,” said Staten Island Republican Councilman Steven Matteo. “We should be focusing our efforts on educating our residents rather than punishing them.”