By Tien-Shun Lee
In an attempt to permanently improve the city's trash situation, Councilman Jim Gennaro introduced a bill last week that would require every litter basket to be emptied at least once a day except Sunday and another bill that would allow people to begin putting their garbage out an hour before sundown every day.
In addition, Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) has decided to use discretionary funds from the City Council to hire the Doe Fund to clean a commercial strip in Kew Garden Hills from Melbourne Avenue to 76th Avenue along Main Street. Once-a-week cleanups began Tuesday and the workers will be cleaning full time, every day, by the late fall, the councilman said.
The Doe Fund is a non-profit organization that hires homeless people to bag trash and clean up streets. In Queens, the organization currently employs people to clean streets in downtown Flushing and Woodside. It used to work on Austin Street in Forest Hills before funds for the service ran out in May.
“It's going to be terrific,” said Gennaro of the Doe Fund.
The councilman said this year he has allocated city council funds to increasing garbage pickups in commercial areas within his district from three times a week to six times a week. In addition, he plans on buying 350 new trash baskets for his district.
Although Mayor Bloomberg recently announced that he would spend $250,000 per week to pick up overflowing baskets, those funds could be eliminated at any time, said Gennaro, especially since the Department of Sanitation recently laid off one third of its basket collection work force.
“Right now it's just a policy, and any administration could change the policy,” said Gennaro. “I've been doing everything I can to get the baskets emptied more frequently. It's important to me, it's important to the mayor, so why don't we just sign it into law? The best way to ensure that daily pickups perpetuate through time is to make it a law.”
The second bill that Gennaro introduced would allow people to put their garbage out by the curb beginning one hour before sundown.
Department of Sanitation rules mandate that garbage cannot be put out before 8 p.m. during the summer and before 5 p.m. during the winter. Residents who do not abide by those hours can be issued summonses of $50 to $100.
If approved, the legislation changing the time that garbage can be put out for collection would be beneficial for seniors, who prefer to take out garbage during daylight hours, said Gennaro. It would also benefit Jewish sabbath observers, who are not supposed to do work, including lifting, after sundown Friday and during certain religious holidays.
John Pampalone, a spokesman for the city Department of Sanitation, said it was premature to comment on Gennaro's trash bills since the department had not had a chance to review them thoroughly.
Gennaro said he is optimistic that his bills will be passed because they have been endorsed by the City Council's chairman of the sanitation committee, Michael McMahon.
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
