Taylor Swift fined thousands for letting trash pile up outside her New York City home

Perhaps Taylor Swift has been too busy on her Eras world tour to make sure that the sidewalk outside her multiple New York City residences is kept clean and free of garbage.

Then again, Swift’s “Bad Blood” with the city’s Sanitation Department predate her tour and goes back to 2018, the New York Post has reported. Her reported unsanitary behavior has led to her racking up thousands of dollars in fines over trash that has periodically piled up outside her units in the Tribeca neighborhood.

Between January 2018 and January 2023, Swift has been ticketed 32 times, totaling $3,010, for failing to keep the sidewalk clean, the Post reported, citing city records. The records show that the sidewalk has been found to be dirty, or that she — or the people who work for her — have failed to improperly dispose of garbage. The records alleged that the “the unsightly stream of grime” over the years has included piles of newspapers, bottles and cardboard; napkins and wrappers; and “scattered ashtray contents” the New York Post reported.

Swift owns a total of four residences in two adjacent buildings, which, combined, were worth an estimated $47 million back in 2018, according to reports. She owns three units in one building on Franklin Street, including a top-floor, 8,000-square-foot penthouse that she purchased in 2014 from “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson, the Post and real estate site 6sqft.com reported.  

In 2017, Swift, who is worth an estimated $570 million, spent $17 million to purchase a three-story townhouse next door to the condominium building, in part to convert the townhouse into a private entrance for her penthouse, the Post reported.

The sidewalk in front of the townhouse is the focus of Swift’s garbage problems, according to the Post. As for the sidewalk in front of the condominium building, the homeowners’ association is responsible for maintaining the area out front.

“She doesn’t care about leaving trash out,” a 22-year-old dog walker told The Post. “I think she’s more focused on her multi-million dollar tour that’s bankrupting all her fans.”

A representative for Swift declined to comment on the fines she’s accumulated. But the Post reported that she and her “army of lawyers” have spent time and energy to fight the fines, getting the total reduced by some $200.

Several Swift fans defended her sanitary habits to the Post. They blamed the garbage outside her townhouse on other fans and the paparazzi who hang around outside, on the off chance that they will catch a fleeting glimpse of her coming and leaving.

“It’s probably the fans waiting for her and smoking while they’re bored,” Christine O’Connor, 33, told the Post. “She doesn’t even smoke!”

Rebecca Heller, a Tribeca neighbor, told the Post that it’s possible that Swift is being unfairly targeted by the Sanitation Department. Heller also said that there are other residents in the neighborhood who are more deserving of being targeted. “There are other people who deserve (being ticketed) more. And they’re clearly not changing their behavior.”