I moved to the city six weeks ago and I don’t get the windshield flyer thing. On my block near Crocheron Park, every other morning there’s a lime-green flyer for Cash for Junk Cars or We Buy Houses tucked under every wiper. This morning mine was one of those thick rubbery ones that smeared on the glass. Is it okay to just throw them out? I don’t want to be rude, but my entire block looks like a phone pole exploded.

I hate the rubbery ones! Not just paper—they get soft with dew and stick to the windshield like a wet receipt. Have you tried the ones they fold into the driver’s side mirror? Those leave little pink fibers in the gap and then you have to dig them out with a toothpick. And why are moving company flyers always printed on that screaming yellow paper? I keep a shoebox by the door just for them and repurpose the blank backs as packing material. But if it says 'take one,' it should be one per car, not a ream stuffed into the door handle. bronx_newbie, you're not being rude—the rude part is using your car as a filing cabinet.

Legally, placing commercial handbills on a vehicle without the owner’s consent can be a violation of the city’s administrative code, but enforcement is almost entirely complaint-driven. I went through this a few years ago when a tow-truck outfit papered our block near Old Slip three nights in a row. Calling 311 with the cross streets, times, and a photo of the flyer did get the precinct’s community affairs officer to drive by on the next tour. The flyers stopped for about six weeks, then a different company appeared—usually it’s not the business owner but a contractor paid per piece, so confronting the person on the street just moves the problem one block over.

If you see them actively distributing, photograph the person and the license plate if they have a cart or car. In a building with a doorman, ask the front desk to shoo them off; in a walk-up or on a side street, you’re mostly on your own. You are absolutely allowed to remove anything left on your own car. I would not yank flyers off other cars unless the owner asks you to, because that can turn into an unnecessary yelling match. The practical move is to keep a small plastic bag in the glovebox so the dye doesn’t rub onto your interior.

Wait, people actually call 311 for flyers? I thought I was the only one noticing. I just moved to Bay Ridge and there’s a guy who puts menus for a Greek diner on every car on 3rd Ave between 72nd and 75th, same spot every Tuesday, right after the street sweeper. I folded one into my pocket and the ink rubbed off on my jacket. Are there no-soliciting rules if it’s a public street? Also, do you keep the menu? Some of them are actually decent and I don’t want to throw away a diner I might try.

I’ve lived on a block that got flurried by three competing house-cleaning flyers every Friday, so I’ve learned the difference between a minor annoyance and a real gutter problem. The paper ones under the wiper are mostly harmless if you catch them before rain; the plastic baggie-with-a-stone ones are the worst because they end up in the catch basin and then the corner floods.

As to your original question: yes, anything placed on your car is yours to remove and toss. You don’t owe the person a phone call, and I wouldn’t call the number on the flyer—it’s almost always a burner line or a voicemail nobody checks. If you want to actually reduce the number of flyers on the block, take a photo of the flyer and the distributor if you see them, then send it to your council member’s office and copy 311. The council member’s constituent liaison can ask the precinct or sanitation to pay a visit. One time our local community affairs officer spoke to a crew and they skipped our block for over a month, but the next company eventually came through. It’s a cycle, not a one-time fix. Also, don’t put them back on someone else’s car as a joke—technically that’s littering, and you might get caught doing it on a parked car's dash cam.

Yeah, just toss it. If it’s one of those thick ones, I fold it into a triangle and wedge it under my own passenger wiper so it doesn’t end up on the street—wait, that’s still my car. Over on Horatio, a smoothie place used to leaflet every Vespa on the block at 6 a.m. Now when I see someone with a stack, I do the universal ‘not here’ wave and they usually nod and move along. Half the time that’s enough. If they don’t stop, I just say ‘come on man, not the side mirrors’ and keep walking.

This is why I keep a pair of needle-nose pliers in the door pocket. Not for the flyers—for those little blue tape envelopes a realtor once taped to my driver’s window. The tape left residue that took a razor blade and a lot of swearing. I called the office and they actually sent me five bucks for goo gone, which felt like a small lottery win. For regular paper flyers, I stack them under the passenger seat and use them as oil-change drop cloths. I don’t call 311 for this; I just accept it as part of parking on the street.

Okay, this is way more of a thing than I thought. I finally saw the guy this morning—he had a hand truck stacked with flyers and was doing three cars a minute. I took a blurry photo but was too nervous to say anything. For the people who call 311, do you say 'illegal dumping' or 'handbill thing'? I don’t want to waste their time with the wrong wording. Also, ForestHillsFan, the shoebox idea is going into my trunk tomorrow.

Call 311 and say 'illegal commercial handbill distribution on vehicles without consent.' That phrasing puts it in the right queue. Give the operator the exact block, cross streets, time you saw the person, and describe the flyer. You can also say 'recurring—every Tuesday morning' or whatever pattern you see. The precinct won’t roll lights for it, but a complaint count can get a patrol car or community affairs to swing by on the next tour. If you catch the same flyer in multiple spots, mention that too; sometimes sanitation will treat the leftover pile as illegal dumping if it’s in the gutter.

One more tip: don’t leave the flyers in your car for weeks, especially in winter. Some of the cheap dye will transfer to the glass when it freezes and thaws, and then you need a razor blade and glass cleaner. I keep a zip-top bag in the glovebox and toss them at the nearest corner basket. If you feel comfortable, you can tell the distributor 'not on my car please,' but don’t expect much—they’re usually paid by the piece and not interested in a debate. Document, don’t confront.