Life in the Pig City: New Yorkers Love Public Dumping

Here's some good news for the giant rats galavanting through our fair city (and bad news for the rest of us who want to avoid disease): Stats show that a decent amount New Yorkers are complete dirtbags who really like to dump their trash in public.

The Daily News reports that the number of $100 illegal dumping fines ballooned by 46 percent last year -- swelling from 2,512 in 2010 to 3,681 in 2011.

The newspaper, citing the Sanitation Department, says that people frequently complain to their councilmen about the misuse and abuse of city garbage cans. Apparently, lotsa people like to throw out their household waste on the side of the street. (Shame on you!) Businesses are guilty, too, as they often leave refuse roadside to avoid paying commercial garbage pickup fees, the Daily News notes.

Trash complaints haven't gone up as much as tickets, though. In the last year, 311 complaints about dumpers only went up 11 percent, suggesting that New Yorkers gross, anti-social behavior is relatively stable.