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Usually, the more people a city has, the more garbage a city must collect. New York is no usual city though. Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty is puzzled by the stats he sees. Could they be real or garbage? You decide. Between fiscal years 2005-2008, the city’s population grew by up to 50,000 per year but household refuse collection dropped 5.5%. Recycling pickups dropped 7.1%. There are plenty of suggested explanations but nobody can really explain. The city spends about $100 a ton to get rid of residential garbage and roughly $57 a ton to rid itself of recyclables. Whatever the reason/s for the numerical oddities, these trash truths are welcome news to a city with a budget that’s full of garbage and that needs to be recycled to meet our obligations.▼
IMPORTANT NOTE: This piece was written today about an older New York City news headline. NYCo site delays prevented its publication before now. In an effort to entertain and educate this blog’s devoted viewers, 100’s of older headlines will be posted in chronological order until this blog is discussing current events again. Though some stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of mention and viewer comments.
[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others. This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]
Arie Sharon and his wife Haya were forced into becoming treasure hunters in Staten Island. Arie is a jeweler who left his wife’s $20,000, 3-carat, anniversary diamond earrings in a cleaning solution container. An employee, who thought the jar was empty, threw it away. The couple contacted the Sanitation Department, who to their credit was sympathetic to the Sharon’s plight. The garbage truck that collected their refuse was found a day later. Fortunately for them, it hadn't yet dumped its load. The Sharons were permitted to sift threw the trash. 30 smelly minutes later, the jar with the earrings was found. Quite a “lost and found” story. With apologies to Ms. Marilyn Monroe, “diamonds in the dump were this girl’s best friend.”
The Department of Sanitation should clean up its magic act. Making garbage disappear where it never existed is fraud, not efficiency. Comptroller Bill Thompson claims that 31 of 76 lots were spotless when investigated by auditors, yet Sanitation reported they removed 2-16 tons of debris … and the city paid the disposal fees. Sanitation claims that crews sometimes clean “adjoining lots and areas.” It explained the discrepancy as a reporting method which might need adjustment. The Department of Investigation gets to examine this mess next.
Scavengers are stealing our garbage! So say city officials who claim that in 2007, New York City lost $150,000 in recyclable metals. We’ve prosecuted and fined those who were caught in our cans and impounded over 100 vehicles yet refuse robbery continues. Apparently, "one man’s garbage is another man’s gold (or other valuable scrap metal)." The City Council has raised fines from $100 to $2,000 to protect New York’s rubbish. Hopefully, this will slam the lid down hard on this sanitation problem.
Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty is expanding the distribution of the familiar green and blue recycle bins. They’ll be placed in city parks and in the Staten Island Ferry terminals. This effort will hopefully encourage people to recycle waste when out in public just as they’re required to do at home. Good idea Commissioner!
While you’re at it, how about more of the regular trash bins too? More often than not it seems, New Yorkers must balance their refuse on top of overflowing garbage pails. The green and blue receptacles will likely be filled with “bad” garbage and not recyclable material otherwise.
