MANHATTAN – Take a walk though the Upper East Side and you’ll notice the number overflowing trash cans spilling garbage on the sidewalk at seemingly every street corner are on the decline— and it’s no accident things are getting cleaner.
In fact, it’s all thanks to more trash pickups by the hardworking crews of Sanitation Department funded through money allocated by Council Member Julie Menin’s office.
“I think this is going to make a tremendous difference for our neighborhood,” Menin said Friday morning at the corner of East 79th Street and First Avenue— announcing the funding with a shiny DSNY garbage truck as the backdrop.
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“After all that they’ve been through with Covid, people want to make sure the neighborhood is clean,” the Council Member added.
Menin, who took office just two weeks go and has been tackling quality-of-life issues head on since being sworn in, partnered with Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson to have crews increase collection from litter baskets on the Upper East Side— from a DSNY maximum three times a day, six days a week— to four times a day, four days a week.
“I have to tell you, one of the top constituent issues I’m hearing from this district are sanitation issues,” Menin added.
“I wanted to make sure… that we are addressing this head-on.”
”Every New Yorker deserves a clean street,” Sanitation Commissioner Grayson said.
“Frequent emptying of the corner litter baskets helps us deliver on this commitment.”
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The extra trash pickups will run through the end of June and were made possible by the Council Member earmarking $120,000 in funding through the Council’s Cleanup NYC initiative that allows Council Members use funding for projects that make City streets and sidewalks cleaner.
“We remind residents to use litter baskets properly, and to report illegal dumping or basket misuse to 311,” Grayson added.
Litter basket trash collection frequency will remain the same on the other three days of the week.
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