When we first got the email from the Neighbors Project about “Thank You For Shoveling Cards,” we thought it was some sort of snarky thing to leave the person down the block that doesn’t shovel the sidewalk in a timely way. Nope. It’s a way to thank the people that do. The front of the card is above and the back is below. The project even has its own website and you can order the cards and they’re free. Here’s what the email we got from Neighbors Project CEO Kit Hodges, who wants Brooklynites to know about the cards, said in part:
Snow both adds to the charm and creates a lot of frustration in Brownstone Brooklyn. And by snow, I mean snow removal. Now that it’s the snow season, your readers might be interested in our new, free “Thank you for shoveling” cards, designed to encourage your neighbors to shovel the sidewalks during the winter.
It’s easy to curse your neighbors when it takes you ten extra minutes to get to the subway in the morning because you have to wade through snow or jump over slush. We’re making it easy for people to do something constructive and neighborly about keeping their block shoveled this winter. We’ll send you cards, and all you have to do is drop them in the mailbox of your neighbors who shovel. A little positive reinforcement goes a long way towards making a snow-free and friendlier block. This definitely won’t work for people living in larger buildings controlled by a management company, like in downtown Brooklyn, but in mid- and low-rise areas with more homeowners, it’s a good solution to the eternal NYC neighborhood problem of sidewalks blocked by snow.
The effort is an offshoot of the Neighbors Project, which has been active in Chicago and is establishing a Brooklyn operation. It works to help organize activities to bring neighbors together. Here’s a bit about them from their website:
Neighbors Project is a growing movement of a generation of people living in cities with ambition and energy to improve their neighborhoods.
The movement was started in fall 2006 by a group of friends who were concerned about both the increasing polarization of our country due to expanding suburban sprawl and the polarization in our city neighborhoods due to increasing gentrification.
You can visit thankyouforshoveling.org by clicking here.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Ben K. // Dec 7, 2007 at 9:22 am
I have to wonder if we really need to thank people for following the law. Maybe tickets for those who don’t shovel would be a more appropriate way to get the point across.
2 Anonymous // Dec 7, 2007 at 9:58 am
You have zero liability if you DO NOT shovel the sidewalk in front of your property.
If you do shovel and someone falls they can sue for being negligent for not shoveling properly.
No clearing and all you get is a summons.
3 Anonymous // Dec 7, 2007 at 11:54 am
If this is not a discussion of boring minutae I don’t know what is..and don’t forget sometimes it isn’t lazy homeowners but the elderly and infirm..plus, with foreclosures, expect more unshoveled walks in some neighborhoods!
4 Anonymous // Dec 7, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Ha!! When pigs FLY! Thank MY neighbors??? Haaaaa. There has been a desk on the corner for WEEKS. A desk with drawers pulled out. I suggested the closest building do us all a favor and put it out in front of their yard so it would be collected. Well, they put the drawers out but not the desk!!! Haaaa!!! I have a section 8 case on my block. They never clear the snow. Unless that card has a 3000000 bill glued inside, it will never FLY. Ha!!!!!!
5 J$ // Dec 7, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Just don’t slip it in the fence of one of those “no menus” houses.