Mayor de Blasio Launches Spring Cleaning in New York City

By Yehudit Garmaise

   Now that our homes are sparkling clean after weeks of preparing for Pesach, New York City is also turning its attention to Spring Cleaning.

   Although resources were tight for many of the city’s agencies due to COVID-era budget cuts, now, thanks to the $1.8 trillion federal stimulus package, the Department of Sanitation New York (DSNY) has received funding that will increase the city’s clean-up efforts, which will start tomorrow.

  “It is time for spring cleaning in New York City,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said this morning. “We love our city. We want it to be even more beautiful.”

    The first DSNY clean-up initiative that Mayor de Blasio announced today is the addition of 100 sanitation trucks to DSNY’s fleet to supplement trash pick-ups and resume Sunday garbage collections.

  Ed Grayson, DSNY’s commissioner, also spoke today about the city’s Precision Cleaning Initiative, in which “borough-based teams will go out to target illegal dumping and other eyesore conditions that we have seen as we have progressed through the pandemic,” he said.

   In addition to the significant funding the city’s efforts toward litter basket collection, for which many New Yorkers have called, the mayor also announced a “community clean-up van” that will be traveling to pick up the trash of neighborhoods that launch their own clean-up efforts.

   “If you have a clean-up idea, and you need help to make it happen, we now have the resources to help you,” said Mayor de Blasio, who strongly encouraged community groups to click the link that says ‘Get Involved,’ on the DSNY’s website.

  “The cleanliness of New York City is something to which we all want to contribute,” Grayson said. 

   City Councilman Justin Brannan, who the mayor said “has been pushing hard for the litter baskets collection to be resumed” said today that “We leave our trash behind, and we expect it to disappear. 

    “Getting back on our feet as a city starts with clean streets.”