Someone is routinely discarding pages of vintage porn, Bibles and erotic novels on the sidewalks of Huron Street in Greenpoint, residents say.
It’s a mystery eerily similar to one that was solved last spring just a few blocks away on Noble Street. In that case, residents found reams of precisely sliced pages of porn, Bibles and old Reader’s Digests scattered in the street every Sunday morning for four years. After a private security firm identified the culprit as an NYPD sergeant, the police department docked him a day’s pay and the littering stopped.
But a few blocks away on Huron Street, residents were experiencing their own trashy whodunnit. John Himmelman, vice president of a condo development on Huron Street, said that every few weeks he would emerge from his apartment to find litter strewn everywhere. One memorable morning, the pages were filled with women’s derrieres.
“I walk downstairs and the first thing I see is butts, Buttz Magazine, all over the block,” Himmelman said.
The strange sequel was first reported by Greenpointers.
Himmelman meticulously cleaned the pages of Japanese manga, comic books and religious text, every time — including on Christmas morning. He tracked the mystery litterer on his security camera – a hooded man who walked by his building tossing pages at exactly 5:45 a.m.
One morning, Himmelman woke up early to wait for the suspect.
“I see this guy just walk past my camera and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is actually happening,’” he said.
The person Himmelman caught on video bears no resemblance to the sergeant who spread trash on Noble Street. When Himmelman saw this new person on his security video, he sprinted out the door.
“Where did this guy go?” Himmelman yelled up to his wife on their balcony.
“That way, that way!” she shouted.
In the middle of McGuinness Boulevard in the face of oncoming traffic, Himmelman caught up to his target and pointed his camera.
“Are you … the guy?” he is seen asking on the video.
The two stared at each other awkwardly, and the man walked away.
“Are you … the guy that’s been … uh… with the papers?” Himmelman asked again.
The suspected litterer tried to grab Himmelman’s phone, sparking a brief tussle. They then parted ways.
Now, some residents wonder if there is a connection between the Noble Street litterer and the mystery man who trashed Huron Street.
“I wonder if they’re in cahoots,” asked Lucas Cornfield, Himmelman’s neighbor.
Psychologist Peter Kramer said two serial litterers in one community seems like more than a coincidence.
“The odds that two people would have this exact same impulse are kind of low, otherwise it would be happening everywhere,” Kramer said. “It sounds like a copycat.”
Kramer said there are all kinds of reasons people do this kind of thing. Often, he said, they think they’re sending a message.
“Is the intent to litter or is it to enlighten?” Kramer wondered.
Since Himmelman confronted the man, the Huron Street serial litterer hasn’t trashed the sidewalk again. Himmelman reported the repeated incident to the NYPD several weeks ago. Police told him to call 311.
The NYPD did not respond to an inquiry.
“It’s kind of hilarious,” Cornfield said. “But I could see it being a little creepy … and weird … and odd.”
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