Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Astoria Resident Pooh-Poohs Dog Doo With Street Art, Fliers

ASTORIA — This Queens resident isn't taking anymore crap.

Fed up with dodging stinky piles of doggie do outside his apartment every day, Astorian Jang Cho took a creative approach to getting his neighbors to pick up after their pooches.

The 32-year-old art director started snapping photos of dog poop around his neighborhood, then printed the pics on "Found" fliers, which he posts on lampposts and utility poles.

"If it's yours, please call or e-mail me," the flier reads, providing a voicemail number and an email address — LostDogPoop@gmail.com — both of which auto-reply with a friendly public service announcement about the importance of curbing your dog.

"A poop-free Queens is a better Queens, for everyone," the message says.

The emailed response includes a link to a Google Shopping page that sells dog waste bags.

"I don't expect that I can change people's behavior, but I really hope that people try to change their habit to pick up their dogs' poop for cleaner New York City," Cho wrote in an email to DNAinfo.com New York.

The Dog Poop Project, as he calls it, also includes stenciling toilet seat shapes in temporary spray chalk on sidewalks, strategically placed around piles of poo with the word "No Poop" in bold letters.

Cho, originally from South Korea, said his block on 31st Street near 23rd Avenue is a haven for errant excrement.

"Every morning when I go to the subway or bus station, I can see 4-5 dog poops on the way. It is only a 10-minute walk from my place," Cho wrote in the email. "Especially in front of my apartment, I can find NEW dog poops every day."

He started posting the fliers at the end of February, and said he's gotten positive feedback so far, including requests from residents in other boroughs who want him to do the same thing in their neighborhood.

"I plan on doing this in Brooklyn in a few weeks," he said, saying he's been asked by poo-weary  Williamsburg residents to start the project there. "I'll keep doing this as long as I have time."