Last year's budget cuts have led to mounting complaints as the city's sanitation department falls behind on collections and rodent complaints surge.
As the pandemic eases and cities start trying to entice people back to their emptied cores, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio "started hiring workers for a newly created City Cleanup Corps— a 10,000-employee force to eradicate graffiti, collect litter and beautify parks" and "pledged to restore some of the sanitation budget cuts he made last year" in response to mounting complaints about public sanitation.
Despite pre-pandemic successes, the progress former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia made "skidded to a halt last year" as budget cuts made by Mayor de Blasio "led to reduced collection, rat mitigation and composting services," write Gerald Porter Jr. and Skylar Woodhouse for Bloomberg. According to city 311 data, "[c]itizen complaints about dirty conditions spiked 150% between March and August 2020, and rodent complaints surged." At the end of March 2021, "waste tonnage was up about 15% compared with the early months of the pandemic," and rodent complaints increased by 80%.
Former commissioner Garcia is now running for New York City mayor among "crowded field of Democrats," some of whom have also "seized on trash as an issue that could vault them ahead." Whoever wins "will have to undo the 'devastating effects' of the sanitation budget cuts" as activity—and trash—return to pre-pandemic levels.
FULL STORY: NYC Deploys 10,000 for Cleanup as Trash, Rodent Complaints Soar
Parked Cars Hamper NYC Trash Containerization Effort
Sanitation workers must manually collect bags from containers blocked by parked cars, slowing a process that is meant to be safer and more efficient.
New York to Cut Sidewalk Trash Service by 40 Percent
Budget cuts will force the Department of Sanitation to cut sidewalk trash collection by nearly half.
New York Garbage ‘Containerization’ Pilot Not Replicable at Scale
The city’s sanitation department says the program, while successful on one block, would be too difficult and expensive to implement citywide.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
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Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
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NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service