As Brownstone Brooklyn has boomed as a place for more people to live and visit, public garbage collection has not kept up. In fact, refuse from public receptacles on the street is still picked up only as frequently as garbage from private homes–a couple of times a week. In Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, at least, this is no longer adequate. We happened to take the photo above last Friday morning at the corner of Clinton and Willoughby Avenues, just a week before Council Member Letitia James came out with a formal call for ways to address the issue.

Supplemental collection is costly and requires considerable resources. It is not something that can or should be implemented on every block within the five boroughs. Business Improvement Districts overseeing commercial strips relieve much of the burden of street cleaning along heavily-trafficked blocks. However, there needs to be a mechanism put into place that would allow residents to report areas where street litter baskets are consistently overflowing, and that would require the department to respond quickly. This would be especially useful in the 35th District, which is home to a busy transportation hub; vibrant commercial strips; and arts, cultural, and sports attractions.

Glad to see this getting addressed. While they are at it, they should consider adding more cans. You can walk blocks in some parts of the neighborhood without seeing a can, kinda like post office boxes. Oh, and the problem’s not confined to Fort Greene: The Brooklyn Heights Blog points out that cans in that neighborhood were overflowing over the weekend as well.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. This is a real problem on Fulton Street in Clinton Hill, where we *have* a BID that does supplemental cleaning, but the garbage piles up aside all the cans at St James Place on the weekends, and the space in front of Buka looks like a dump almost every day.

    I think until the store owners and landlords start giving a crap about the aesthetics of the street, this will continue to be a problem.

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