NO this is not during the 70’s when New York was engulfed in trash and graffiti. This picture was taken in January 2022 on West 34th Street, three blocks from the empire State building. It is as bad as the 70’s.
On Thursday evening (January 7, 2022), Council Member Erik Bottcher spoke to PIX 11 about the challenges pedestrians encounter when walking on sidewalk. He pointed out how unhealthy, unsafe and ungreen mountains of garbage are. He urged the Departement of Sanitation to come up with a solution.
Chekpeds started working on this topic in 2019 by responding to a Sanitation Department RFEI. In 2020, following a resounding silence (this was during COVID) , we engaged in some guerrilla’s tactics that drew some ire and a lot of attention . Good conversations with the agencies ensued in 2021. We are very encouraged that our Council Member is pushing this issue with vigor early in his tenure.