Results tagged “trash”

Those recyclables you're throwing away in the designated recycling bins at city parks... well, they're probably just going straight to the landfills. The NY Post reports that during their investigation they found that "not only are routine recyclables like bottles, cans and paper being sent to landfills, but so is other waste that is supposed to be trashed separately, such as animal carcasses, medical waste and bins of used kitchen oil." Who goes to the park to throw away their animal carcasses? Those are for the East River!

Even with those handy little illustrated tip sheets on how to separate ones recycling from trash, New Yorkers are still confused! Or lazy. Or living in cramped quarters. The Daily News reports that we're throwing recyclables in the regular trash over half the time. Some blame confusion, while others point out there's simply not enough space in cramped NYC living quarters to have a separate container for everything.

Over the weekend the Mormons were out in full force, cleaning up your sinful refuse at McCarren Park. The Brooklyn Paper got up early to steal some souls with their camera, bragging that they "managed to capture it on film!" They report back saying that 100 youthful members of the Church of Latter Day Saints were picking up trash and raking leaves before the rest of us woke up at the crack of noon thirty. The paper talked to some of the late-rising locals; one 22-year-old Jessica Weinschenk said, “I guess it’s not that weird because religious people do stuff like that. And hey, it’s cool if someone wants to clean our park for us." Way to go Weinschenk. Unsurprisingly, only one non-Mormon claimed to have ever cleaned up for a community, and of course it was part of Burning Man (he told them "when you leave you have to spend four hours cleaning up after yourself"). It's not surprising that the Church descended on Williamsburg, which the Parks Department identified as being the park most in need of maintenance within all five boroughs.

Those pushovers at the Parks Department have accepted the apology of MIHventures, who trashed Prospect Park during their annual illegal Heatwave BBQ. The Brooklyn Paper notes that everyone is getting along, and the Parks folk say they "will also ensure that they [MIH] fully comply with our rules and regulations when considering any future events at Prospect Park or any other park."

The litterbugs are speaking up. Following their annual Heatwave BBQ that left Prospect Park looking more like a landfill than a public oasis, hosts of the event, MIHventures has released the following "explanation":

As we know, the 4th of July left a huge mess in the city's public spaces, particularly Prospect Park. Nothing says independence like the freedom to trash your neighborhood! At the time, the Prospect Park Alliance had noted the challenge of cleaning after holidays, but the Brooklyn Paper reports that this Sunday the park was left in even worse shape. Allegedly a company called MIH Ventures held their annual Heatwave BBQ there, leaving behind hundreds of pounds of trash.

     

Visitors to Prospect Park this past Sunday may have noticed how their fellow park-goers chose to celebrate American independence—by trashing a few acres of park grounds. Raphael Brion was one of those visitors, and he snapped a few photos of the post-Fourth carnage to share with us on Flickr.

Yesterday morning, Mayor Bloomberg and other officials announcing the start of a new garbage era in Brooklyn: The city will export thousands of tons of trash from North Brooklyn by rail instead of by road. Mayor Bloomberg pointed out removing trash by rail will eliminated 40 long haul tractor trailer trips each day (or 13,000 each year), “That’s not only going to help reduce congestion on the borough’s streets and highways, it also will reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions and improve the air we breathe - especially in communities that have long been unjustly saddled with handling other people’s waste.”

While accepting the best supporting actor prize from the New York Film Critics Circle on Monday night for his riveting performance in Milk, Josh Brolin lashed out at the Times's chief theater critic Ben Brantley, who negatively reviewed Brolin in True West on Broadway. Sure, that was over eight years ago, but Jo Bro does not forget a slight: "As much as actors like to say they don't read reviews, I do. Ben Brantley—honestly I hate that motherfucker! And I don't think he's a good writer." (We do.) Then Brolin turned to his Milk co-star: "Quite an actor Sean Penn...Amazing. Not an asshole like Russell Crowe."

Some Greenwich Village-residing celebs are finding their garbage is a goldmine for one outdoor prowler. The NY Post notes that one recent victim is Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker -- and they report on the invasion of privacy by printing what the garbage gossip found, naturally. In an anonymous letter, it says the actress fills prescriptions for an underactive thyroid at Bigelow Pharmacy on 6th Avenue (good to know she pays her co-pay $20 at a time, just like the rest of us). Other famous targets have included Charlie Rose and Graydon Carter...perhaps this snoop should start sifting through the younger Hollywood set in order to come up with something a little more scandalous than legally prescribed goiter medication?

The guy behind the Take a Seat project has spoken out against his criticizers (ahem). Listen up, haters: just because the chairs are found as curbside trash, doesn't mean they are no longer functional, and it certainly doesn't mean they're infested with bedbugs. However, the point about taking up space on already overcrowded platforms was a good one, he admits, although he notes that the stations are chosen with that in mind (here's a map of where there are currently chairs). As for crowd reactions, he says, "I've never stuck around to watch riders' reactions, I imagine the chairs are often greeted with skepticism - 'Who's chair is this? Why is it here? Is there something wrong with it?' - and only utilized by people who just really need to take a load off." C'mon, fess up, who's had a seat in one of the trash chairs?

The MTA is sick and tired of your careless newspaper disposal, so they made a mock newspaper to school you in changing your ways! WNBC reports on the Subway Gazette, which outlines the hot topics underground, including how your trash can lead to subway delays.

Once on the tracks, trash can help spark track fires or clog drains along the roadbed and that can lead to flooding. Smoke conditions and flooding lead to delays in train service and, in the case of fires, they can be extremely dangerous.

Continue reading "The MTA's Subway Gazette"

How does the trash in your 'nabe measure up to the rest of the city's? NY Moon and Last Night's Trash documented different neighborhood's garbage, and while there's no trash-tallying competition, the discarded items speak volumes at times.

The New York Post continues its saga of poor document management by the Port Authority today, after exposing how a homeless man found confidential building plans for the Freedom Tower in a trash bin last week. The paper was contacted by a pair of "salvage experts" in the wake of that story, who wanted to let it know that they had reams of documents--all marked confidential--that they discovered in a dumpster behind 115 Broadway, where the Port Authority has rented space for project engineers.

In all, the boxes of papers and rolls of blueprints weigh about 300 pounds.

Continue reading "Freedom Tower Plans in Trash Just Tip of Iceberg"

Internal investigators at the Port Authority are faulting the overwhelming bureaucracy surrounding the construction of the Freedom Tower for the loss of confidential blueprints that could have left the new building vulnerable to those determined to strike the WTC again. Per the New York Post, "Experts say there was enough detail in the blueprints to lead to a devastating terrorist attack."

It's the Smoking Garbage! Lawyers for Brian McNamee, the trainer who alleges his former client Roger Clemens did inject himself with steroids, showed off photographs of alleged injection detritus. The Smoking Gun posted to photos last night and noted, among the "syringes, blood-specked gauze pads, and drug vials, "it is unclear what the significance is of the Miller Lite can seen." (ESPN reports that the can - from Clemens' 2001 NYC trash - contained drug needles!)

The Gotham Gazette has a fairly comprehensive overview of the unpleasant byproducts associated with densely populated living: garbage. The details are illuminating, 64,000 tons of weekly garbage that amounts to 7 billion pounds every year. The feature is an examination of the accumulation of daily decisions that New Yorkers make every day about the things they consume and dispose of. Paper, plastic, food waste, electronics, and other things we throw in the trash add up...