Dive Brief:
- New York City is investing $4.2 million in fiscal year 2017 expense funds and $2.5 million in capital funds to implement a "CleaNYC" program in all five boroughs. The effort includes a concentration on ridding private and public structures of graffiti, sidewalk power washing in commercial corridors, cleaning stained outdoor furniture, Sunday and holiday litter basket collections, and high shoulder/ramp cleanups.
- New "graffiti-free" trucks with power inverters will enable equipment to do the work without running engines or gas generators. The additional litter collection days and 20 more basket trucks employed comprise a nearly 40% expansion of service, and target heavily trafficked neighborhoods on high pedestrian traffic days, mainly in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.
- The Department of Sanitation will also now have resources to sweep about 100 more miles of highway shoulders and ramps each week.
Dive Insight:
New York City has been on a mission to develop comprehensive plans to rid each borough of trash and to expand existing efforts such as an all-borough program to combat electronic waste. The city has even invested $200 million in a unique trash truck garage to accommodate 150 sanitation vehicles.
This new multipronged, multimillion dollar cleanup initiative not only clamps down on trash in neighborhoods but benefits businesses. It also benefits the city's economic health at large.
"With this expanded graffiti-free NYC program, we're making a major investment in quality of life for people in all five boroughs," said Maria Torres-Springer, economic development corporation president. "We're also ensuring that our commercial corridors are places where businesses can thrive and create new jobs. And importantly, through partnerships with local workforce development organizations, we're creating employment opportunities for New Yorkers who need them the most."
