Gothamist on a mystery that took years to solve:
Residents described the repeated littering as “meticulous.” The pages of religious texts, children’s stories and physics books found regularly discarded on the street were perfectly flat – never crumpled or folded.
...
“Sometimes things would be underlined or highlighted on the pages, and we would try to figure out if there was a message”
...
“I need to stress to those who have yet to experience this phenomenon with their own eyes the SHEER VOLUME of papers floating down the street. It looks like the work of someone with an enormous collection of old books who spends their weekend tearing apart pages before scattering them in the wind,” wrote a former block resident, wondering if the litter was some “weird fetish.”
...
A clue emerged earlier this year when one longtime resident, who declined to be named, adjusted a surveillance camera at her home to better capture the culprit. She shared footage with Gothamist showing a dark car driving down Noble Street around 5:30 a.m. on several different occasions as handfuls of paper flew out of the driver’s seat window.
...
The break in the case came when another resident, who has ties to a private security firm, arranged several overnight stake-outs
...
“That just doesn’t sound like my brother” [said the culprit's sister]