BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Councilmember Erik Bottcher and Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson stood with community leaders and residents Wednesday in Abingdon Square to announce $54,100 in increased funding for corner litter-basket service in Community Boards 2 and 4.
The $54,100 in additional funding comes from the City Council’s NYC Cleanup Initiative, and will provide two additional eight-hour litter-basket truck routes, plus one additional 4-hour basket truck route, per week.
“The workers of the Department of Sanitation are truly New York’s Strongest and I’m proud to give them more resources to do the difficult work of keeping our streets clean,” Bottcher said. “More weekend service will be particularly helpful as the weather warms up and foot traffic increases. This is just a portion of what is needed, but it will absolutely make a difference. I appreciate Commissioner Grayson’s partnership and I’m committed to getting his workers more resources in the upcoming budget.”
Bottcher added that, just by looking at what’s in the corner baskets, it’s clear that “the use of single-use plastics is out of control.” He also noted that “illegal dumping” of litter on the curb and in street trash cans is an ongoing problem in the district.
The councilmember said he picked the press conference’s location — a popular spot for ballot petition-signature gathering — because he’s noticed the trash basket on the corner there is often overflowing.
“All New Yorkers deserve clean streets,” Grayson said, “and additional trash cans in pedestrian corridors and frequent emptying of these cans helps New York City’s Strongest deliver on this commitment. I thank Councilmember Bottcher for funding these additional services in his West Side district. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the councilmember to keep our streets safe and clean. And we remind all residents to use litter baskets properly, and to report illegal dumping or basket misuse to 311.”
“Never be ashamed to use the basket properly,” Grayson said, also encouraging people to pitch in on neighborhood cleanups.
Also joining Bottcher at the press conference was Tony Simone, who is running to succeed Richard Gottfried in the 75th Assembly District.
Fellow West Side politicians praised Bottcher for scoring the sorely needed added garbage truck trips for Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen.
“I applaud Councilmember Bottcher for working with the City Council and the Department of Sanitation to secure additional sanitation services for our community,” said Congressmember Jerrold Nadler.
“The New York City Sanitation Department works hard to keep our neighborhood clean, but they need more resources to address the needs of our community,” state Senator Brad Hoylman said. “I’m thankful to Councilmember Bottcher and all of my colleagues for helping win this increase in sanitation funding for the West Side. We all deserve clean streets and this support for corner litter baskets is a first step to help us get there.”
“A key component of helping New York City recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is restoring the fundamental city services to pre-crisis levels and frequency,” Assemblymember Deborah Glick said. “Services like emptying sidewalk litter baskets are imperative to caring for the health and well-being of our neighborhoods. I am pleased to see that Councilmember Bottcher and Commissioner Grayson have secured this funding for corner litter-basket services in West Side communities. This will improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods and be a positive contribution to the city’s ongoing recovery.”
It’s great to hear about it but so depressing that basic maintenance jobs need to be fought for. That a $54,000 operating budget expense is celebrated and praised. That every elected official in the area knows how desperate this city is in need to be cleaned yet we get scraps and crumbs. This is not enough of course: We need daily trash can pickups, we need midblock trash cans on the cross streets, and we need containerized trash cans to be placed on the street, not on the narrow sidewalks. And we need it all over the city, not only in Community Boards 2 and 4. Community Board 3 is unbelievably dirty. So now every member of the City Council needs to advocate just for their areas? So wrong.
Great news that garbage pick-up will be increased.
But still depressing is all the folks who contribute to the problem in the first place — as Bottcher points out, the single-use plastics and illegal dumping are significant.
Incredible to see folks who toss their Starbucks and Joe Juice cups on overflowing trash cans (couldn’t wait a block to find another trash can) or stuff their pizza boxes in, leaving no room.
It is a myth that young people are worried about the environment and climate change.
It is a myth that individual actions have any meaningful impact on the environment and climate change.