CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — A Crown Heights business could go under after it was slapped with nearly $10,000 in fines for posting flyers on city light poles.
Quinton Spikener, 27, the owner of Xyayx Multimedia, a music and video production company, woke up last Thursday to find his mailbox stuffed with 47 letters from the city, each charging a $200 fine. The total bill was $9,400.
Fines for Flyer Blitz Flatten Small Biz
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — A Crown Heights business could go under after it was slapped with nearly $10,000 in fines for posting flyers on city light poles.
Quinton Spikener, 27, the owner of Xyayx Multimedia, a music and video production company, woke up last Thursday to find his mailbox stuffed with 47 letters from the city, each charging a $200 fine. The total bill was $9,400.
“I can’t afford that in any way,” he said, adding the only way to pay the fines would be to sell off the recording equipment and shut the business.
He freely admitted putting up the flyers to promote his company, but said he had no idea it was illegal. “We saw flyers on every light pole in Brooklyn,” he said. “We didn’t expect to get hit with a $10,000 fine.”
The violations dated to July 9, and the letters said Spikener was found guilty by default after he missed a Feb. 6 hearing before the Environmental Control Board. He said he was never notified about the hearing.
“We might have five more of these piles coming,” Spikener said, since Xyayx employees continued to post flyers for months after the initial violation, unaware they were doing anything wrong.
Department of Sanitation spokesman Matthew Lipani said receiving a large batch of violations months after an alleged offense is common.
“Typically, delays occur after illegal postings are observed, so that the respondent’s information on the postings can be investigated and correctly identified,” Lipani said.
He said Sanitation attempted to send a pack of summonses to Xyayx three times starting Jan. 5, but on each of those occasions they were returned as undeliverable.
Spikener, who has written to ask for a new ECB hearing, said he’s willing to atone for breaking the rules, but insisted the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
“Paying that fine is going to break our back,” he said. “We’ll go clean up the light poles. We didn’t know.”
trying to help
From what I understand, this fine doesn’t apply to walls, only poles. An organization I used to work for once got slapped with this. The fines amounted to several thousand dollars worth.
mosh
they should 1st warn him that its illegal
Bloombergs- deficit plan
If they warned him first, he would have stopped putting up the signs. In which case the city wouldn’t be able to tax him $10,000. how else do you expect bloomberg to close the citys’ budget deficit gap. It goes in same category as being illegal to pay someone elaes parking meter (which is only illegal in NYC).
chani farron
we need to stand up for our fellow jews
pirka ovos if i’m not for myself who is if i’m only for myself what am i
hypocritical lawmakers
please note that the politicians who have pushed for these fines have refused to stop committing the same offense around election time. i remember an interview a few years back (i think it was dov hikind?) who was on a rampage about cleaning up the streets, when asked if he would stop posting political ads on the poles he said, “no, political ads are a city tradition”.
Itskarmadude
The guy’s a jackass who spams craigslist constantly, and threatens those who ask that he follow the clearly stated “terms of use”, which he cockily ignores. He thinks he’s above everyone and the law.
Doesn’t get my sympathy.