TV Sets on the Curb... Gone.

The City picked up our old television sets from the curb in front of our house today. It took a little bit of prodding with a follow up phone call but the job got done and it felt good to see them gone.

I called the city on the 311 line and made arrangements with the sanitation department to have the TVs picked up which they do for seniors. Everyone else needs to take the televisions and other electronic gear to the city recycling garage in South Buffalo. Leaving televisions on the street on a regular trash day or even heavy pickup will get you a hefty fine.

It took two weeks for them to schedule a pickup and I was ok with it for August 30. I had the TVs sitting outside our shed covered in a tarp. On the morning of the 30th I took our two wheeler cart and one by one rolled the three televisions out to our curb. And there they sat all day. And the next day too. Some of our neighbors commented to us that it was against the law to leave televisions on the street but we described the program for seniors to them and nobody had ever heard of it. Well, you got to do your research.

I called the 311 service phone number again on the afternoon of the 31st and they assured me that a truck would be coming by to take away the televisions. In the meantime someone came along and picked up the one flat screen. It didn't work but maybe they had a use for it. The other two large CRT sets. 

I was told at the time of scheduling the pickup not to have the TVs on the curb during a regular trash day because there would be a good chance of getting a fine. Now trash day was here and I wasn't going to drag them back to the yard so I put a note on one that explained the situation and the two days of scheduled pickups that didn't happen. Fortunately the guys from the garage showed up on September 1st at about 11 am and took away the televisions. I went out and talked to them and removed the note. The guy in charge was very chatty and it was kind of a funny conversation. The TVs were gone.

Later that evening I was having a couple of beers at Resurgence Brewery at the Parkside Lodge in Delaware Park with several guys from the neighborhood. At one point we were talking about different services from the city and I brought up what had just happened with the televisions getting picked up at the curb. Nobody in the group had heard of the program for the city to come to the home of seniors and pickup televisions and electronics. They all have lots of stuff, like I did, stored in their basements, attics and garages.