A revolting reality has emerged as the snow from January’s storm melts away: New York City's dog owners don’t scoop their pets' poop from the sidewalks.
Sidewalks throughout the five boroughs resemble a dog run that’s been neglected for weeks. For reasons known only to irresponsible dog owners, the below-freezing stretch of cold weather was accompanied by a total breakdown in canine cleanup.
A review of 311 data confirms the obvious: New Yorkers are fed up with the brown minefields.
New Yorkers lodged just under 1,000 complaints about dog waste on city streets and sidewalks this year, an 81% increase from the same period in 2025. On Feb. 11 alone, people filed 77 complaints about dog waste.
The crappiest block in the city — at least according to 311 data — was 49th Street between Third and Fourth avenues in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The block got 28 complaints since snow started falling on Jan. 25.
Resident Norma Rivera said the poop is a problem year-round. But it’s not as bad in the warmer months “because people are going to watch,” she said.
There were still smears of feces on the sidewalk up and down the block Wednesday, which was also strewn with other refuse.
Don't let the sweater fool you. It's possible no one picked up that doodle's doo doo.
“Maybe we should be like Florida, where they provide trash, receptacles and bags for it,” Rivera said. “ I mean snow or no snow, it's still dog poop.”
In second place was Fort Washington Avenue between West 187th and 190th streets in Upper Manhattan, with 25 dog crap complaints. Next up was Riverside Drive near West 106th Street, with 14 complaints.
Sanitation officials conceded that catching scofflaw dog owners in the act is difficult — and even floated deploying mobile cameras to track down offenders and fine them $250.
“Dog owners know they have a legal responsibility to pick up dog waste, regardless of the weather or conditions on the ground,” sanitation spokesperson Joshua Goodman said. “It is irresponsible and just gross to leave this behind anywhere, whether it’s a sidewalk, a patch of grass or a snow pile.”
But Goodman said the law requires a sanitation enforcer to witness the turd hitting the pavement.
“The chances of someone not picking up after their dog while an enforcement officer is watching is very, very slim. So slim, that we issued just two summonses for failure to remove canine waste in 2025,” Goodman said.
“It is clear that people only leave piles behind when they know no one is watching.”
City Councilmember Chi Ossé could do little more than share his outrage on social media.
“Do you want the government to go to your house and wipe your a--?” Ossé said. He encouraged New Yorkers to report negligent dog owners to 311. “The state should apprehend you or your dog,” he said.
The Sunset Park block with the most 311 complaints about dog poop also featured a lot of litter.
The dreadful conduct by dog owners follows a surge in dog adoptions during the pandemic. That was followed by a dramatic spike in surrenders by dog owners who realized they couldn’t handle caring for their pooches. So many pets were given up after the pandemic that the city’s animal shelter system had to pause accepting certain animals due to record overcrowding.
Alan Beck, who previously ran the Bureau of Animal Affairs for the city health department, said that New York City has always struggled with a dog poop problem.
“ It seems to be more of a New York City issue than any other. And I've lived in many cities around the country,” he said. Beck speculated that the sidewalks choked by snow might increase the density of dog turds and highlight just how much feces there really is.
He added that dog waste is a disease vector for both humans and their pets.
“Dogs themselves can spread diseases among themselves through fecal contact,” Beck said.
Other cities and housing complexes have addressed problems with dog poop pickup by forcing owners to register their pups’ DNA. Piles left behind are then tested, and the owners face fines.
Goodman ruled out the possibility of DNA testing dog poop in the city.
Micheal Brandow wrote a book about New York’s poop-scoop law, which was the first ordinance in any major urban city requiring dog owners to clean up after their pets.
Brandow maintained that even the current fecal frenzy is not as bad as before the law passed.
“It surely was a disaster. It was everywhere,” he said. “ We do have more dogs probably now than ever. It's very important not to overestimate what the problem is.”
He pointed the finger at a classic New York City culprit: People who just got here.
“ I really think a lot of newcomers who move here, maybe from pristine suburbs, with nice manicured front lawns think the city's going to be a clean place. And it's not,” he said.
“They see one turd and they get all upset.”
He said there’s little the law can do to fix the problem.
“You can't enforce it. It really is an honor system,” he said.
