JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. (AP) — After neighbors turned her in, a woman in this village outside Binghamton nearly had to pay $79,000 for her hobby of picking through curbside trash and piling the items in her yard. Karen Herzog calls herself a trash “recycler.” She recovers everything from typewriters to porcelain figurines to discarded bricks. She’s donated much of it...
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. (AP) — After neighbors turned her in, a woman in this village outside Binghamton nearly had to pay $79,000 for her hobby of picking through curbside trash and piling the items in her yard.
Karen Herzog calls herself a trash “recycler.” She recovers everything from typewriters to porcelain figurines to discarded bricks. She’s donated much of it to the Salvation Army or found ways to use the objects at home.
But neighbors in Johnson City didn’t appreciate the heap of clutter in her yard and reported her for code violations.
This week in village court, Herzog was given a choice: either get rid of everything except a broken wicker chair and a flower pot or pay $79,000 in fines.
It’s not hard to guess which she chose. The garbage is gone.
But Herzog says she’s now considering reporting her neighbors for code violations.