Sanitation Dept. Ready Ahead Of Time For Post-NYE Cleanup In Times Square

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the city's sanitation workers assigned to Times Square, their job starts long before the first piece of confetti falls to ring in the New Year.

WCBS 880's Myles Miller talked with Sanitation Department Commissioner Kathryn Garcia about the preparations Saturday.

"It's not like we can show up and get through the crowds. We need to be there on site immediately, so as soon as PD starts to clear Times Square, we're able to get going," Garcia said.

Garcia said there is another countdown that is also pretty important for New Yorkers on New Year's.

"We actually don't have a lot of time before folks want traffic back flowing," she said.

So Garcia's employees stand at the ready, and 65 of them assist the NYPD with garbage trucks full of sand in an effort to fend off a terrorist attack. The extra security is in response to attacks this year in Nice, France and Berlin, Germany.