If you have spent any time off campus, it is easy to notice the trash scattered across the Bronx. You may see empty White Castle burger cases on Fordham Road or a plastic bag drifting down Hughes Avenue. On Monday nights, plastic trash bags are scattered throughout the neighborhood, stinking up the streets, waiting to be collected on Tuesday mornings. In 2023, the New York City Department of Sanitation found the Bronx was the only city borough with less than 90% of streets clean. It scored 89.7%, meaning one in 10 of the borough streets were considered dirty. The same study found that the Bronx also has the dirtiest streets, with it being the only borough with less than 95% of the streets being clean. The Bronx has the most green space of any borough in the city, but the waste has even penetrated them. In April, CBS News New York reported that St. Mary’s Park in the South Bronx was littered with syringes. Park officials had to clean up over 6,000 syringes. As a result, in recent years, the Department of Sanitation has begun reimagining how to clean up the city. They have introduced a new way of collecting trash, which will end the practice of dumping plastic bags on sidewalks, and redesigned the city’s trash cans. As the city enters a new era of garbage removal, we think the Bronx should not be left behind.
New York City’s trash collection issue can be linked to its original design. In many U.S. cities, trash is kept in alleys that are out of sight. However, the designers of the original Manhattan grid did not include alleys within their plan, which meant trash had nowhere to go but on the street. In 1954, the city began allowing cars to park for free overnight, limiting the space where trash could go. Then, in 1968, the New York Sanitation worker strike changed how New Yorkers take out the trash. Before the strike, people would put their trash in metal trash cans that sanitation workers would collect. During the 10-day strike, trash wasn’t collected and waste piled up on the streets. Chemical companies stepped in and donated 200,000 plastic trash bags to City Hall. New Yorkers fell head over heels for the slick and modern plastic trash bags, and the tin cans became old news. Throwing plastic bags on the street is now how New Yorkers in all boroughs get rid of their waste. The unfortunate side effect is that our city’s streets look uncared for.
The way New York currently throws out its trash is not great, but the good news is things are changing. Over the course of this past summer, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch released a plan to require landlords of buildings with one to nine units to supply their property with the “NYC bin” starting on Nov. 12. The bins have a secure lid and will keep plastic bags off the street. By taking this action, ABC 7 Eyewitness News reports New York will have “containerized 70% of New York City’s 14 billion annual pounds of trash in two years.” The city is also planning on mandating that larger buildings use bigger containers that will be collected by trash trucks. These larger containers will need to take up space on streets currently used by cars. While some people may complain about less parking space, the amount needed for around 800,000 wheelie bins would only take up 1% of the city’s parking space.
Another important step the city has taken is to install new trash cans on street corners. The old containers were green mesh structures with holes large enough for rats to get into. Last year, the Sanitation Department introduced a new design for trash cans to keep the trash inside and are easier for sanitation workers to carry. In recent weeks, these trash cans have been placed on corners of Fordham Road, so keep your eyes open for them.
The Sanitation Department’s steps are important to keeping the Bronx and the rest of the city clean, but we must take responsibility ourselves. We are not only members of the Fordham community but also the greater Bronx community. Some students don’t take this responsibility seriously and will mindlessly litter when out in the community. Instead of doing that, follow the lead of the Sanitation Foundation, which helps clean streets across the Bronx. This summer, they volunteered to clean streets along the Grand Concourse and received an award from the New York Yankees for their hard work.
We all use the streets of the Bronx and other parts of the city every single day. The new sanitation policies will help the streets become cleaner, but it is up to everyone to maintain them. So next time you’re out, throw your trash away the right way.
