Thursday, January 6, 2011

NYC Department of Sanitation ~ NOT Very Sanitary ~ NOT Very Nice!!

The snow is finally melting and the streets are finally clear...



... thanks to 'Mr. Sun' and NOT to the Department of Sanitation...


...and we are keeping shovels handy because there is more snow promised tomorrow:






And here is the beautiful sight we see when we look out our front door ~ GARBAGE!


Up the block there is a multiple-dwelling so they have even more garbage piled up...




The Sanitation Department did not do a very good job of plowing and salting the streets of New York, and they haven't picked up garbage since before Christmas, so this is what has greeted Jayden and myself, block after block as we walk to and from his school each day this week:









And as bad as our neighborhood is, other neighborhoods are much worse! Here are photos I took from the internet of Harlem, Brooklyn, and Staten Island:






Raymond said the streets of Manhattan are lined with trash walls taller than him, especially in front of high rise apartment buildings and restaurants.

But snow mounds and piled up garbage is the least of it.
There is talk that this is all due to Sanitation workers/supervisors/unions retaliating over lay-offs due to budget cuts. Of course the union is denying this, I hear the supervisors are denying this, but some of the workers are blowing the whistle on this travesty.
And I say travesty because there have been two deaths in this city due to the fact that emergency vehicles could not get through the unplowed streets in time to save lives.
In Brooklyn a woman gave birth to her baby in the lobby of her building, it took EMS workers ten hours to reach her. The mother lived, the baby died.
An elderly woman in Corona was having difficulty breathing, her daughter and neighbors called 911, it took over three hours for EMS to reach the woman, she did not survive.
So, if it's true, that workers are saying they were instructed to go down streets with their plows UP, and, if it's true that they were told to wait inside their trucks for 'further instructions' and those 'instructions' didn't come for over five hours, then I have just two questions to ask the Sanitation Department of New York City. Do you feel vindicated now that you got your message out to us? Was it worth it?

10 comments:

  1. WOW - I feel your anger and justifiably so. My son said the same of Brooklyn. Tragic about the baby .
    One good thing, is the man who jumped out the 9th floor window of his apartment building hoping to kill himself - he landed on all the bags of garbage and lived!!! He will have quite a story to tell after he gets treatment and is better :-)
    Love Gail
    peace......

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  2. This is just tragic, Eileen! I have a blogger friend Grace who is from NYC. She had a serious fall, and it was almost impossible for the EMT crew to get to her. THANKFULLY, they did, and she's fine now. But she was seriously injured.

    I have heard all about this, and it just makes me so upset for you. We had a similar thing going on here, only not nearly as bad because we don't have snow. They issued new garbage cans and are going to one day a week trash starting this week. Well, never dreaming we couldn't use the new cans since we are PAYING FOR THEM, everyone in our neighborhood used them, and the public works department refused to pick up the trash. I had garbage overflowing after two missed days. I then got into it with the city, and I was asked if I had a college education and could read. Yes, I was. The woman later apologized.

    The next garbage day they sent the new truck and the old truck, and I took pictures of both. That's one sure-fired way to get your garbage picked up! LOL! I stood on the porch in my flannel PJs and snapped. I miss my garbage men in St. Augustine who love me and will do anything to help me. These others need to take a lesson in courtesy.

    Hope your situation is resolved soon.

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  3. I hope they do an investigation into this Eileen, there are so mnay people looking for work that these people could be replaced. I don't think that amount of garbage is even healthy to be around. Hope it all works out, said on the news last night it was all cleaned up......so much for news!.......:-)Hugs

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  4. I know that New York has always been notorious for their trash pick-up. Or lack there of I should say. I never quite understood the problem as growing up in Chicago, that was never a problem. You would think that they could figure this out by now!
    I would also think that such a huge and beautiful city would like to keep up with appearances if for nothing else, the tourist industry let alone all of the business that is done there! But when it starts to effect life and death, it's just inexcusable!
    I hope things get cleaned up before the next round of snow. Love Di ♥

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  5. I've been reading about this on the news...and I'm so sorry that it has impacted your area.
    I do hope that all is put right...soon.
    Hugs and warm smiles to you, my friend.
    Love,
    Jackie

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  6. Dear Eileen, I just popped by to thank you for being such a good bloggy friend. Thank you for all of the lovely comments you have left on my blog. I will miss you. I wish you and your family all the happiness the world has to hold.
    Love, Carol and Charli

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  7. That must be horrible. Good thing it's not summer...that garbage would be cookin'. Still, what a sight! So any word on when this will be cleaned up? I can't imagine how the city will catch up with all this work.

    So you walk Jayden to school? How far is it from your home?

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  8. I'm reminded of "MONK" and his considerable problems in one of his TV mysteries...Know you can hardly wait till the rubbish is all gone! And oh! when I get my kitchen back together I'm gonna be makin' the Irish Soda Bread! Until then I'll keep yours in my thoughts! Have a wonderful day, dear friend! CAthy

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  9. Honestly, I had no idea any of this even happened. This just lets me know that I should pay much more attention to current events.

    It's terrible to hear about stuff like this. When people die because of confusion and/or disorganization, it always sends my stomach into knots because these things can be avoided with the right kind of leadership.

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  10. I'll keep yours in my thoughts! Have a wonderful day, dear friend!
    Dumpsters

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