Notice above from Community Board 6
Jackie writes:
"Would you be so kind as to possibly post the notice regarding bulk pick up problems noted in the CB6 newsletter? I have grudgingly hauled my sealed mattress to the curb 5 times! 311 isn't aware of the problem and told me to call again this morning - which I will since no one is picking up at the garage but I've noticed couches and larger items piling up in the neighborhood."
After corresponding with Jackie, I grabbed my camera and took a short walk around the neighborhood. Right on my own block, I saw two mattresses and pieces of furniture that have been discarded at the curbed for some time. On Court Street, I found a couch that I have passed several times in the past week.
As for Jackie, she is still trying to get through to the Sanitation Department.
"I have called the garage number throughout the morning and it just rings, no voicemail option - just like Red Hook Post Office but that's another story!", she told me.
Have you noticed more bulk items cluttering the sidewalks?
To read Community Board 6's complete January 2016 newsletter, click here.
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12 comments:
There's been a busted up dresser on the corner of Degraw & Clinton for 3 weeks now. It's interesting that this lack of bulk pick up is the result of DSNY needing to divert resources to the new brown compost bins which from a quick consensus of the neighborhood, no one really uses. This whole DiBlasio administration has been terrible. The worst Mayor I can remember since Dinkins. The city is headed for a downward tumble.
I have been composting in my brown bin. Before that, I dropped off my compost at the Carroll Gardens Greenmarket.
Not sure how many of my neighbors do, though.
The expansion of the pilot program in Community Board 6 should not precent Sanitation from picking up bulk. It had been planned for quite a while, so the department certainly had enough time to adjust. Unless, of course, the City did not allocate resources for the additional compost pick-ups.
On union Street just the other week someone impaled an old TV on a fire hydrant after it was sitting out for a few days. Huge mess, glass everywhere
I spoke to a sanitation worker who did not pick up a bulky item and was told since the trucks had to get reconfigured for the compost they could no longer pick up bulky items. They would still send a truck through from time to time, 3 weeks the longest. I called 311 to log a complaint but they knew nothing and wouldn't let me file a complaint as 24 hours hadn't passed for a missed garbage complaint..
Seriously, why are people too lazy to use the brown bins? Mine disappeared and so I put my composting in my neighbor's bin. It's not that hard to keep a ziploc of scraps in your fridge (I don't like the provided bucket).
The problem is the trucks themselves. I noticed that the trucks picking up both the regular trash and organics have two receiving bins in the back (I don't know what they're actually called) -- the organics are dumped into the smaller section, and the regular trash goes into the larger. So the back of the truck is no longer large enough to receive bulk items. Why in the world Sanitation didn't think of this before is beyond me. Where have all the "regular" trucks gone? They can't all have been retrofitted because the organics pilot program is still limited and not citywide. It also doesn't surprise me that no one answers the phone at Sanitation, even though the CB6 newsletter suggests calling before 2pm to talk to "a human."
People aren't taking advantage of the composting? Really??? My kitchen trash so much sweeter because all the organic matter is rotting outside rather than stinking up my kitchen trash. Every Sunday night I look out at the amount of trash we leave out for collection, and I am appalled at how huge the pile is, sometimes it stretches right across the width of the sidewalk in front of our house! BUT - among the gross display of bags and bags bags there's only one pail of trash, everything else is being picked up to be recycled or composted, and then I feel much better about it. I remember a time when it was two pails and a few blak bags as well.
Given the large capacity of the brown bins, it would make sense to pick organics up with the 1st pickup of the week, and bulk items on the 2nd.
Ok, so what's the solution here? Sanitation will pick up bulk on an as-needed basis -- OK, fine -- but no one answers the phone to take pick up requests. How long is this "temporary" situation going to last? Leaving bulk on the sidewalk for three weeks or whenever Sanitation gets around to it is ludicrous. Should CB6 get involved as an intermediary between residents and Sanitation to make sure we're being heard?
I know for a fact that the trucks indeed have separate spots for the organic waste and the regular trash, but that they eventually dump all the garbage together, nullifying any good we all think we're doing. We can all kid ourselves and think we're making a difference, but we simply are not.
Other CDs have compost picked up 2x a week, regular pick up 2x a week, bulk 1x a week. Not sure what the problem is in CD6.
Once again, our tax dollars at work.
My mattress along the rest of the bulk on my street was picked up Saturday evening but I also filed a 311 missed collection report so unsure whether is was from that or if they were finally doing a bulk collection. I think bulk 1 day and compost the other is a good idea if it is easy to convert trucks. They also need to let people know - I was lucky enough to stumble across the notice in the CB6 newsletter even though the phone number for the garage rang unanswered. - jackie
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