(TJVNEWS.COM) New York City is being forced to deploy an army of 10,000 cleanup workers in response to worsening problems with trash and rats.
A newly created ‘City Cleanup Corps’ will be tasked with fighting the piles of garbage on the streets of the Big Apple, with complaints surging by 150% between March and August last year.
After a $100 million cut to the city’s sanitation budget, filth and rodent infestations have become a common sight, with data revealing that waste tonnage rose 15% by the end of March compared to the early months of the pandemic.
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced the City Cleanup Corps is officially hiring, starting with 500 jobs posted online.
He said the program will hire 1,000 workers in April and 10,000 by July for spring and summer cleanings.
“Folks will be out there eradicating graffiti, beautifying parks, helping our wonderful Open Streets and programs to be as beautiful as it can be,” he said. “Making sure there’s less litter on the streets — you name it. We have so many things that we need to do and now having a dedicated group of New Yorkers who will go out there and make the city shine.”
The city’s trash problem was further exacerbated last year when officials re-located the homeless to higher end neighborhoods and hotels in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID.
Even before the pandemic, rat sightings reported to the city’s hotline surged by 38% between 2018 and 2019.
“When we see dirty streets, people intuitively think either government isn’t doing its job or things are really bad,” said former sanitation commissioner and Democratic primary candidate Kathryn Garcia.
