Complaints to 311 for overflowing litter baskets are down 55% since July, when the city rolled out a new initiative aimed at regularly servicing overlooked waste bins across the city, according to Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
She’s looking to keep that “historic” momentum going as the city rolls out Mayor Eric Adams’ “Get Stuff Clean” plan Monday.
Announced last week, the operation will see 200 new DSNY workers added to the agency to support cleanliness across the city, as well as adding new evening shifts for hot spot cleaning and rat mitigation within city parks.
According to Tisch, the $14.5 million investment in the new initiative will help the city service over 1,000 “No Man’s Land” neglected areas around the city, further increase litter basket service, expand camera enforcement against illegal dumping, and bring on additional rat exterminators.
“Today is the beginning of a major, meaningful change in how we clean New York City,” Tisch said during an interview with Spectrum News NY1.
According to Tisch, after surveying the city for the past few weeks, officials identified numerous locations in almost every neighborhood in the city that had not been cleaned regularly for decades.
“These are places like underpasses, overpasses, greenways, step streets. They haven’t been cleaned in the past either because cleaning was unfunded or underfunded, or there were jurisdictional issues,” Tisch said.
“Today, we have started an initiative to clean those areas up, give them a good, deep clean,” she added.
Tisch called these areas “no man’s land” areas, and said people in those areas were unclear as to which city agency was in charge of cleaning those up.
According to Tisch, the Sanitation Department is now taking the lead on cleaning those areas up, with the help of other city agencies.
“Recovery in New York City requires a clean city,” Tisch said. “Economic development requires cleanliness. People want clean streets in the communities where they live and work, and that’s what we are trying to deliver for them.”