After seeing the videos, a judge agreed and tossed out the cases, and now this could lead to changes in the way all tickets are written.
Undercover video of a sanitation worker in Bensonhurst taken last November 15th reveals a lot when you know the whole story.
That morning Motty Katz, the building manager on 83rd Street, got a summons from the sanitation agent in the video.
He was accused of mixing five aluminum cans and some cardboard along with all the other trash.
He knew it wasn't right and he could prove it because he has cameras all over his building.
So he ran to get the building super, to rewind the tape and watch it.
"I watched it again, and I turned to the super and said, 'She never opened the bag.' And I said, 'Let me see it again.' (What did you think?) I was shocked, I was so stunned that someone could go ahead and do that. I was upset all day," Katz said.
The agent never opened the bag and casually walked away.
So, a judge dismissed the case.
"The enforcement agent committed perjury, and we are left to wonder how often does this agent commit perjury," Assemblyman Dov Hikind said.
Monday, Assemblyman Dov Hikind showed other videos:
In Midwood on January 12th, there was a summons for 30 plastic containers on the sidewalk.
The video shows no such thing.
In Williamsburg, there was a summons from an agent who never even gets out of his car before posting the summons.
"It's outrageous, it's unacceptable, and it needs to be addressed," Hikind said.
The way to address it would be to require every summons be accompanied with a snapshot of the offense.
The Bloomberg administration's against the idea, calling it too difficult and too expensive.
"They use digital cameras in schools. So to say that they don't have the technology? That's a joke and a lie," Hikind said.
The Department of Sanitation released a statement Monday saying: "The DSNY is investigating the circumstances involving the summonses brought forward today by the state lawmakers. If it is determined that the summonses were improperly served, appropriate actions will be taken. For operational reasons, DSNY opposes the bill that would require DSNY employees to photograph each violation."
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