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Garbage Pickup Limited But Welcome In NYC

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- Regular Monday garbage collection resumed Monday in the Big Apple, after being suspended since last Wednesday's snow blast of 19 inches.

New Yorkers were surprisingly sympathetic to the Herculean task of New York's strongest, battling the elements and trying to keep ahead of the mountains of garbage in the snowiest January on record, CBS 2's Magee Hickey reported.

"It's rough with all the snow here. I don't know how they can take care of all this snow and all this garbage. An incredible task they have. Thank God it's not warm cause it would really stink," said Joe Raccuglia of Chelsea.

"It's overwhelming with more snow coming. I don't know what we're going to do, but it's enormous and it's a hazard. How do you get it out of here? Good luck to them," said Carol Reynolds of the Upper East Side.

The City Sanitation Department said the pickup was limited and only in areas that normally had Monday collections. The public was being asked to pitch in by making sure sanitation crews have a clear path for pick up and digging out of snow buried bags and containers.

Some residents were trying to be good citizens in Greenpoint, Brooklyn by digging out to make way for sanitation workers.

One man told CBS 2's John Metaxas that it had been two weeks since his trash was last picked up.

In East Elmhurst, residents said they have been hoping for garbage pickup for days.

"I don't know when they're going to be by," Eric Garcia said.

Other residents said they didn't know what to expect, but predicted that the situation would ease by Friday.

Still, other Chelsea residents were not too optimistic about the situation.

"They just bulldozed yesterday to cleanup all the snow. It can only get worse," said Drew Martin.

Some residents were still angry about the 10 days the garbage wasn't picked up after the post-Christmas blizzard.

"It's inexcusable because it's a health hazard," said Devorah Hill of Chelsea resident.

"This is a view I see all over New York these days and, unfortunately, it's a view I'm used to. This isn't fun," said Elinor Tatum of the East Village.

With freezing temperatures Monday and more snow expected this week, homeowners in the City and suburbs are also being advised to remove snow from their roofs. There have already been some collapsed roofs due to the weight of the snow.

The National Weather Service said the threat of another significant storm system could further endanger homes, but removing snow on the roof can be both difficult and dangerous.

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