The āKing of Cardboardā ā who officials say made millions by steš§aling the valuable recyclable from city curbs ā has been dethroned, The Poš¬st has learned.
The cityās Busišness Integrity Commission voted this morning to strip Brooklyn waste hauling magnate Dzaguily Sy of his license to operate his Greenpoint-based company, Diag Express Trucking, because he has been routinely ordering his drivers and helpers to swipeĀ bundled curbside cardboard ā worth about $100 per ton ā for illegal sale to recycling plants.
Nearly every pre-dawn morning of the week, Sy would send his trucks throughout the Upper East Side, Harlem, Washington Heights and around Yašønkees Stadium ā where his workers would plunder the stacks of cardboard recycling from retail chains including Wallgreens, Duane Reade and Payless Shoe Source, according to BIC reportš„s obtained by The Post.
The stolen cardboard rightfully bāelonged to legitimate trash haulers, the ageš¤”ncy said.
Sy, who is not being charged criminally, could not immediately bź¦e reached for comment; the loss of his business license means he can no longer operate in New York City and must close down or sell, unleāss he wins a court appeal, a BIC spokesman said.
“Today’s decision is a big win against recycling theft and an indication of how seriously we take this issue, said BIC Commissioner Shari Hyman, whose agency monitors the waste hauling industry.
“In this business, it’s essential to preserve a level playing field for those that play by the rules,” she said.
For nearly six years, Sy reigned as the cityās most prodigiously successful cardboard poacher, according to BIC records detailing the agencyās lengthy inš°vestigation šinto Syās operation.
āMultiple employees of [Sy] hš¦ave told Commission investigaštors that they engaged in cardboard theft at the behest of Mr. Sy,ā Ā records say.
As part of their probe, BIC investigators conducted surveillance š¦on a Diag trucker on June 25š· and June 26.
The investigators watched as the driver and several helpers grabbed cardboard from multiple businesses not on their routšÆe, including a Walgreens, a Duane Reade, an Edible Arrangements and a Paylesšs Shoe Store, BIC records state.
These businesses had contracted with other legitimate waste haulers to pick up their garbage and the valuable cardboard, but Diagās driveį£rs were routinely showing up first, usšÆually between the hours of midnight and 3 a.m., beating the legitimate carters to the punch, a source explained.
Once šon the scene, the Cardboard Kingās minions grabbed the cardboard and stuffed it into Diag trucks that were driven to recycling plants, where the cardboard would beš¦ weighed and re-sold, earning Diag Express Trucking tens of thousands of dollars monthly that rightfully belonged to the legitimate haulers, BIC records state.
As part of the investigation, āBIC probers āflippedā one of the corrupt drivers in July and got him to testify about the June heists, BIC records state.
The driver, whose identity was kept confidential, later testified that Sy — who he commonly referred to as āJackā ā had hired him the previous month, while setting a quota for stolen cardboard.
āHe was directed by āJack,ā or Mr. Sy, to collect nine tons of cardboard every night for six nights a week,ā the BIC rulinšg states.
āThe Driver further testified that āJackā told him to špick up any cardboard šÆhe saw on the street, to ābasically get [the cardboard] every way we could find [it],ā BIC records state.
BIC investigators also examined the ādump ticketsā ā receipts showing how much cardboaršd was being picked up andą½§ re-sold daily.
During one three-week period in June, although the company āonly had 14 customers at the time,ā a single driver āunloaded approximately 30 tāonsš§ø of cardboard per weekā at two recycling plants.
Those 14 customers — three Metro PC cell phone retailers; two shoe stores; one fruit and vegetable stand and eight ā99 centstoresā — couldnāt have possibly produced as much cardboard as Diag was getting paid for, BIC said.
Theš Cardboard King, meanwhile, is abdicating resš§ponsibility.
Sy testifš¤Ŗied ā¦he was unaware his drivers were stealing cardboard, a claim the agency termed ānonsensical.ā
In a bid to illustrate his irresponsible behavior, the commission noted that Syās driver license had been ą½§suspended 25 times since November 2008.
The comā mission also concluded that despite his āself-servingā testimony, he āwas clearly aware that he was being remunerated by transfer stations for far more cardboardš than could have been generated by his customers.ā
Although Diag appears go have fallen on hard times lately, the stolen cardboard significantly helped to fatten the firmās bottom line — Diagās financial statements show the company reported a stunning $900,514.32 in cardboard income in 2011 and $889,904.02 in 2010.
Diagās drivers were found guāilty by BIC for earlier instances of cardboard in October 2009 and September 2011, BIC records state.
Diag was also hit with a multitude of regulatory infracź¦tions, failing to pay fines and various taxes, accordiź©²ng to BIC records.
Most recently, the company was deemed guilty in June for failing to post its license number on an Internet ad and failing to maintain its registry of clients, offenšses that resulted in fines of $1,000 and $5,000, respectively, accź¦”ording to BIC records.
Cardboard poaching by corrupt carters is a š¦widespread economic problem that defrauds legitimate local waste šcarters out of an estimated $8 to $10 million yearly, according to the National Solid Wastes Management Association, an industry trade group.
In June, after more than a year of lobbying by the NSWMA, the City Couā±ncil passed a law amending the administrative code, making it unlawful to remove cardboard andź¦ other recyclables from licensed haulersā customers.
Tom Toscano, NSWMA New York City Chapter Chair and the chief financišal officer at Mr. T Carting, of Glendale, N.Y., said at the time the new penalties were warranted.
āThe daily theft of cardboard hurts our entire industry, from small family-owned hauling operators to larger firms who lose the revenue, and their customers that feel the loss in greater fees,ā saiš¦©d Toscano.