Latest Storm Causes Backup Of Trash Pickups
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The snow isn't the only thing piling up after Tuesday's storm.
As CBS 2's Dick Brennan reported Thursday, neighborhoods are littered with mountains of garbage that are still waiting to be picked up.
"This garbage should have been picked up early this morning," Upper West Side resident Darryl Jones said.
Alavaro Hernandez told Brennan he doesn't have to look out his apartment window on West 155th Street to know the garbage is still there. "It wafts into my house, lingers into my bathroom. It's terrible. Right under my nose, that's what wakes me up. That's my rooster."
The pileup is somewhat predictable, Brennan reported. Tuesday's storm forced a backup of pickups.
"Primarily there's nothing we can do about it. The city is doing the best job it can," Washington Heights resident Gene Lopez said.
A snowstorm disrupts the city's daily collection of 12,000 tons of trash, Brennan reported.
In a radio interview Department of Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said the tough spots remain in Brooklyn and Queens.
"We've been moving people from Manhattan and other parts of the city into Brooklyn and eastern Queens to catch up on that garbage," Doherty said.
Garbage collection is only one part of the problem. With snow piling up, there's no alternate side of the street parking, which means no street cleaning, Brennan reported.
Alternate-side parking rules are suspended through Saturday, but it could return next week, and many cars are still buried.
"If we put it next week on Monday, and that happens to be their alternate-side day, if they don't move their car they will receive a summons so they better start thinking about getting their car out," Doherty said.
Sanitation said it hopes the warm-up could speed up the return of street cleaners, but for now, the ice and snow will keep them on the sidelines.
The department said it can't re-deploy street cleaners until they can have access to the curb.
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
