Wednesday, May 18, 2016

On this Urban Etiquette Sign, grease is the word



Goggla spotted this Urban Etiquette Sign on East Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

"Do Not Sit on the railing of the tree guard. Your weight bends the planter holder.

As a deterrent the railing has been coated with grease."

To which someone responded, "You are a freak."

You are in the East Fifth St. Tree Committee territory here. Please act accordingly. And keep your butt off the tree guard!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can totally picture the indignant mouth breathing nitwit that scribbled a reply. Hope he got a nice grease stain on his bottom. Yes I am presuming it was a male nitwit.

Anonymous said...

Should have made it more in character with the neighborhood, and coated it with dog shit.

Anonymous said...

an we see a picture of the greasy railing?

Anonymous said...

I am somewhat protective of the tree well in front of my house, I added a grid of black elastic rope to keep people from putting their dogs into it everyday regardless if I have flowers planted there. Yet I agree with the person that left the comment, only a freak would mess up someone's pants like that.

Anonymous said...

Haha, word. The thing that sucks about signs is they're usually ugly. I don't let anybody fuck with my tree well. I keep it litter free and take care of it, yet animal scum humans don't understand how to be respectful and normal. I should get some tossin' grease.

Walter said...

We have our own tree lady on East 5th Street. A german woman speaking with a heavy accent who admonishes everybody who dares to sit on one of the railings around the trees. Her name is Jan (pronounced Yan)...but she does keep the trees in very condition on the block.

NOTORIOUS said...

Zombie spikes are clearly the solution.

Anonymous said...

Long live Janne & the East 5th Street Tree Committee. We should be so blessed to have someone that cares so lovingly for the living & growing things on our blocks. Not to be corny, but its easy to see that the trees on 5th Street are some of the most beautiful in the whole neighborhood. I wish every block had a Janne. While her methods might be debatable to some, she gets things done and has for over 25 years. I might be a freak for thinking that.

Carol from E. 5th Street said...

I am the "freak" that put up the sign and greased (Vaseline) one side of the tree guard. I purchased and put up the planters and pay for and tend the plants in them. The planter racks have been bent and damaged 3 times by someone sitting on them. In lieu of putting spikes or razor tape as a deterrent I opted for a a gentler method. If you don't sit on the tree guard rail you won't get grease on your clothes. If you do, it's easy to get out. Just google it.

And Googla who while taking a photo of the sign gave me an argument about the grease ("what if a mother with kids got tired and stopped to rest, blah,blah, blah") put more thought and effort into something more worthwhile than some hypothetical situation the world would be a better place.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

@Carol - I took this photo this morning and spoke to no one.

C said...

Sorry Googla. I had this conversation with a woman who took a photo of the sign yesterday. I apologize to you but my sentiments about her remain the same!

Carol from E. 5th Street said...

Inadvertently sent my message before listing my name in my message to Googla. It's Carol from E. 5th St.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

@Carol - no problem. :)

Anonymous said...

If you're going to spend money on something and then leave it on the streets of NYC then you get what you deserve. You think people give a shit that you spent your personal money on something that's on a public street? I don't sit on tree guards and I enjoy seeing the daffodils every Spring, but come on.

IzF said...

Goggla:
Carol thinks your name is Googla.

Carol:
Goggla's name is not Googla.

blue glass said...

anin 19:35om
while new york is crowded and full of jerks that is no excuse for somebody to destroy the efforts of another to make city life more attractve.
it is not in new york that folks are inconsiderate, rude, dishonest, thoughtless, etc. that and greed are the new world citizens who only think of themselves.
we should be encouraging people trying to make something attractive not telling them you got what you deserve.

Louise Millmann said...

Thank you...I Help Plant THE DAFFODILES Every fall....And THE Tree COMMITTEE Always Needs Help WATERING THE Tree pits.
.. nice way to meet your neighbors...

I could have been a freak but I ran out of vaseline ... said...

As a child I often used to get tripped up by tree guards and they were nowhere near as prevalent then as they are today. I'd be running down the street and boom!

Why don't the tree guard people get their trees and gardens planted out in the street instead of the sidewalks? Let them take half a parking spot's worth of space and leave the sidewalk for people to walk. There are some streets in the E.V. where between the stoop extending from the front of an apartment building and the tree guard covering the sidewalk from the other end, there is barely two feet width of sidewalk left in which to pass through.

Will Janne do something next to rid the E.V. of motor vehicle traffic? I'd be happy to support her in that. Ask her to Google the effects of acid rain on trees and point out to her that motor vehicle exhaust is a big cause of acid rain.

Anonymous said...

Louise, we love the daffodils!!!!! IS it an all volunteer project? Where do the bulbs come from? Greive, you need to follow up on this story!

Anonymous said...

Sorry Carol, this is pretty freaky. I'm sure there's a homeowners association in Jersey that would love to have you, though.

Anonymous said...

If you don't like people aggressively defending their neighborhood stuff, then you should move back to Ohio or wherever you came from. This is Alphabet City, you're not in the polite suburbs anymore.

Anonymous said...

@9:28 yeah, I'm definitely not tough enough to live here because I'm not an old lady covering things with Vaseline. Defending your shoddy tree fences is the real punk rock lifestyle.

Anonymous said...

I've given up the fight to make my piece of the EV pretty for the simple reason that flowers and well cared for sidewalks just give real estate agents some help in renting to suburban suckers for too high prices.

Anonymous said...

If I ruined my clothes because someone put grease on something, I'd make sure to destroy it and the flowers out of principle. I generally don't sit on tree guards so I'm not concerned for my own pants, but this seems like the kind of thing that's more likely to backfire than not.

Carol from you-know-where said...

Moron - obviously I know Googla's name is not actually Googla. It's just a way of identifying her.

And for all those who find non-toxic, color-less, easily removed Vaseline "freaky" I find you freaky.

Anonymous said...

What kind of gobshite destroys flowers out of principle?