The explosion of confetti along the Giants' Super Bowl XLVI Ticker Tape Parade route was beautiful. And messy. The Department of Sanitation got right to work on its "giant" task (yes, the DSNY's press release says "giant" task!):
1
Results tagged “departmentofsanitation”
Paper Chase: Canyon Of Heroes' Big Mess And Big Clean Up
Grinch Mugger Stopped By Tire-Slashing Sanitation Worker
Ready for another story about people doing good around the holidays? Last night a Department of Sanitation worker doing shopping at the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus heard a woman screaming as she was being mugged. He was unable to catch up with the crooks, but he was able to pull out his pocket knife and stab it into the crook's car tire, allowing cops to quickly catch him and his accomplice.
Getting Ticketed For Putting The Trash Out Too Early Happens
Fun fact that most renters don't realize? Property owners can (and frequently are) ticketed for the litter outside their buildings. And what offends a ticketing sanitation cop can include furniture and sometimes, as in the case of Queensman Raymond Janson, trash cans out for pick ups. Hey, people gotta make their (totally not real) quotas somehow!
"Girlie Girl-Tomboy" Hybrid Digs Her Sanitation Gig
Since the Department of Sanitation began hiring women in 1986, there have been about 300 to hold the title of New York's Strongest—around 12 per year. 36-year-old Mary Ellen Connolly, who will be sworn in as a new Sanitation worker by Mayor Bloomberg on Wednesday, doesn't understand why. "I wish some of my girlfriends would do it. It's a great job."
Thousands Of Items Still Missing From The Occupy Wall Street Library
Yesterday there was a bit of a panic when the Occupy Wall Street library was taken by the Department of Sanitation. Many believed the entire contents of the tent went in to the trash, but then Mayor Bloomberg's office Tweeted a photo of boxed up books, saying they were safe and sound. Some questions remain, however. Did the DSNY dig back into the trash after the media took aim, only salvaging some of the contents of the library? How many items are missing? And where is the structure that Patti Smith funded to house the library?
Entire OWS Library Taken By Dept. Of Sanitation, But NOT Destroyed!
As we originally reported at 4:15 a.m., the NYPD and Department of Sanitation tossed the entire contents of the Occupy Wall Street library into some dumpsters. At that time, the library's Twitter account transmitted this message: "The NYPD has destroyed everything at #OccupyWallStreet and put it all in dumpsters, including the #OWSLibrary. It's time to #ShutDownNYC." The library had more than 5,000 books, and recently Patti Smith funded a more permanent structure (pictured) to house it in.
Photo: Sanitation Truck Makes One Hell Of An Exit... From Garage's 3rd Floor
Well, that is one way to get out of a building! The FDNY just Tweeted possibly the most dramatic photo you'll see all day. And you know what makes it even more dramatic? There is a man inside that dangling truck!
Don't Hit Garbage Men, Even If They Are Blocking The Street
Everyone has, at one point or another, been stuck in a car behind a slow-moving garbage truck and cursed their luck. Most people, however, have not gone so far as to call some friends over so as to "do something" about it. But that is exactly what it appears 28-year-old Henry Rink did Friday evening when he couldn't get past a garbage truck on East 96th Street in East Flatbush. After yelling obscenities at two sanitation workers blocking his Dodge Charger it appears Rink called a friend over to sucker punch the workers.
Months After Pier Fire, Sanitation Workers Protest Conditions
A three-alarm fire tore through temporary Department of Sanitation trailers at Pier 97 on the Hudson River last September. The trailers housed Sanitation workers' lockers, which means they've been changing in the "dank hallways of a garbage barge dumping facility" for the past half year. And now they are fed up.
As Long As It Doesn't Snow Again, We're Going to Be Just Fine
This cash strapped city can't really spare another dime to cope with Mother Nature's mood swings. The Department of Sanitation is reportedly almost $40 million over their budget for snow removal operation this year, and we've still got a month to go...or more. Sanitation spokesman Vito Turso said, "The Blizzard of 1888 happened in March, and we've had snow as late as May." Or as early as next week!
White Winter Snows Down Crime
As much fun as it can be to complain about all of the snow and what it leaves behind, the white stuff brings good things with it too. And not just charming snow creatures and snow days. Because you know who hates the snow? Criminals, apparently.
Is Your Block Still "Celebrating" Christmas? Call 311
It isn't just frozen trash and dog poo that the receding snowline of Garbagegeddon has revealed, there are Christmas trees hidden in there, too! We knew that in the aftermath of Blizzageddon the city canceled its Christmas tree recycling program, but the trees were still supposed to be picked up. And yet we've been hearing reports of, and seeing with our own eyes, Christmas trees still littering the streets around town. And these aren't trees from folks who just couldn't bear to part with their pines until Groundhog's Day (it happens), these are trees that have been back outside for over a month.
Melted Snow Reveals Rotting Memories, Frozen Dog Waste
This week, as the snow melted, the big reveal was caught on film. So if you've been wondering just what happens when garbage is frozen in time, here's your answer. These relics from 2010—when things we're simpler until Blizzadgeddon broke our spirits—likely haven't seen the light of day since late December or early January... and they've made some new friends while in hiding. As PBS.org recalls, "approximately 11,000 tons of trash per day were being piled onto city sidewalks and not being collected," which was then topped with "more snow, discarded furniture, rotting food, even more snow and doggie waste from irresponsible owners."
Wait, Don't We Not Dump Snow In The River?
[Update below] For the longest time we've been under the impression that, for environmental reasons, the city no longer dumps snow in our surrounding waters. And would you look here, a spokesman for the Department of Sanitation recently told the Times just that. In fact, if the city were to even want to do such dumping it would require an emergency permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. So you can imagine our double take when Tim Shreier contributed the above image to us.
If You Don't Shovel, They Will Come And Fine You
It isn't just the Department of Sanitation who has trouble shoveling, property owners do too. From the Boxing Day Blizzard through last Sunday the department issued 2,528 tickets to owners for not making a clear path on their sidewalk. And before you start screaming, the much-maligned department didn't even start ticketing until five days after the blizzard was over.
They Are Taking The Garbage Away! (Again)
If your block looks anything like ours, then in the past week the drifts of snow outside have slowly been replaced with dirty snow and dirtier piles of garbage and recycling (though not quite as bad as last time). With more snow predicted for this week, we were starting to get worried that we were about to start seeing drifts of snow on top of piles of garbage on top of more snow. And don't even get us started on those blocks where the sidewalk is now just a one-foot-wide path of ice stuck next to a mountain of black and clear blue plastic. Luckily for all of us, the Department of Sanitation has now resumed limited pick-ups.
Snow Slows Halloran From Testifying About Slow Down
Yesterday councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) was supposed to speak before a grand jury regarding his claims of a sanitation slowdown during last month's Blizzageddon. We say was because snow prevented much of the jury from making it to court and Halloran's appointment was postponed. But that didn't mean he didn't stop pushing his story, instead he went and talked to federal investigators.
Blizzard Slowdown Investigations Aren't Going Great
A month after the start of the great Boxing Day Blizzard of 2010, investigations into the purported sanitation slowdown are starting to slowdown themselves. Because, well, finding evidence of an actual slowdown is turning out to be harder than previously expected.
Brooklyn, It's Your Turn To Blizzard Bitch Tonight
Last night, Staten Island residents aired their grief about the blizzard in a City Council hearing about the city's crappy response. NY1 has a sampling of some of the statements—"This is the first time of my history of 65 years living in New York, that I ever been not able to go out of my house" and “I'm giving sanitation a break. My anger is directed at New York City Transit, in particular Staten Island buses." And tonight at 6 p.m., there will be a blizzard response hearing in Brooklyn, at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
Sanitation Truck Crashes Into Train, Injuring Two Workers
This has not been a very good few weeks for the Sanitation Department. Alleged blizzard work slowdowns, slow plowing, stuck plows, toppling gravestones, lingering garbage... and yesterday, two workers "crashed their garbage truck into a slow-moving freight train along the Brooklyn waterfront," according to the Daily News.
Bloomberg's Incessant Plows Ruin Everybody's Sleep
Well, it looks like the Bloomberg administration figured it out this time. A relatively low snowfall combined with the Mayor's 15 point action plan means that many New Yorkers woke up to clear streets and pretty good MTA service. But at what cost? City Council member David Greenfield wrote on Twitter, "Sign the city got this storm right: #1 complaint I got overnite: 'Snow plows came down my block so often I couldn't sleep.'" Oh, cruel city that has such service in it!
Why We Don't Dump Snow in the Hudson
With the blizzard barely cleaned up and more snow on the way we've been asked why the Department of Sanitation doesn't just dump the snow in the Hudson. Apparently, so has the Times. We thought this was common knowledge but here goes: we don't dump the snow because snow street snow is dirty and often picks up lots of trash along the way out. Instead the DoS uses industrial snow melters "which can melt one ton of snow per minute, while filtering out any debris and discharging the melt water into the city’s wastewater treatment system.” Which isn't to say we didn't dump it in the past...
More Outrage Over Sanitation Dept.'s Gravestone Toppling
The Sanitation Department is still getting reamed over toppling gravestones at Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn. Trucks apparently were piling up snow into big mountains, but the mounds were so huge, the snow fell against a fence, which then buckled under the weight and collapsed into gravestones. One man whose aunt is buried there was irate, telling WCBS 2 that workers had to immediately dig out the gravestones, before he had to break the bad news to a relative, “How do you tell a 91-year-old woman that her sister’s grave was destroyed? What do you say?”
Sanitation Workers Remind Everyone It's Not That Easy
In the days immediately following the blizzard, many frustrated Sanitation Workers took to Facebook to complain about the treatment they were getting for their (possibly) hard work. Statuses ranged from, "Nobody understands that we got over 2 feet of snow. It takes time to clear it be patient" to "F” the media!!! We getting it done, all day, everyday, until the snow is gone!!" A few of them are even speaking to the Daily News, and here's who they blame:
Plows Spread The Love, Wreck More Cars
Queens resident Miguel Mena got some good news and some bad news after last week's blizzard. The good news is that his car had not been towed, and was parked right where he left it in Mapleton, Brooklyn (near his job). The bad news is that plows weren't able to see it under a pile of snow, and crashed it into an unrecognizable hump of scrap metal. Sadly, no one seemed to be there to videotape it.
Glorious Garbage Show Still On View Across Town!
The city said garbage collection was starting Monday—and it did! But they also said it was going to take time to cart 50,000 tons of trash—and it has...
That's Right, An "Equipment Glitch" Caused Plows to Fail
Excuse our sarcastic quotation marks, because even if this is true it's almost too ridiculous. The Sanitation Department is saying, over a week after Blizzageddon paralyzed NYC, that there was a massive "equipment glitch" that caused many of the plows to fail. And what was that glitch, you ask? A "tripping mechanism" that caused the plows to stop if they hit something, like a giant pile of snow.
They Are Taking The Garbage Away
No reason to get frustrated by that pile o' trash outside your door. Garbage collection was supposed to resume yesterday and it did. But it restarted for everybody and there is about 50,000 tons of garbage to collect, so patience please—this is going to take a few days.
Garbage Collection Has (Kind Of) Resumed!
Garbage collection resumed at 7 a.m. this morning for the first time since Christmas Eve. Good thing considering the drifts of debris piling up. But before you go and thank your lucky Sanitation stars, don't expect all that trash to just go poof. Like all things in New York, there are complications. Which is good if you are looking to jump out of a window, we guess.
Sanitation Department Carts Away Snow
Tomorrow, the Department of Sanitation will pick up garbage that's been piling over the past post-blizzard week. And yesterday, we spotted crews trying to break down snowbanks protecting the garbage mountains on the Upper West Side: There was a front-loader removing snow and then dumping it into a private truck, plus there was a Sanitation SUV parked on the corner.
send a tip
tips@gothamist.comsubscribe
Use an RSS reader to stay up to date with the latest news and posts from Gothamist.