Added Pickups Will Help Northeast Queens Take Out The Trash

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — The City Council is stepping in to help Northeast Queens residents take out the trash, after cuts to the Department of Sanitation's budget have left garbage piling up in neighborhoods across the city.

Thanks to the City Council's Clean Up NYC Initiative and City Council Member Paul Vallone, the region will see additional garbage pickups for the next 30 weeks, to the tune of $71,000.

Sanitation workers will add a garbage pickup on Sundays in the region that includes Flushing, Bay Terrace, College Point, Whitestone, Malba, Beechhurst, Queensboro Hill and Willets Point.

The additional pickup started this past Sunday, Vallone's office said.

There will also be additional trash bin pickups on an unspecified weekday by the garage that covers Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale, East Flushing, Oakland Gardens and Hollis Hills, according to a news release.

“As we continue to face the ongoing impact of COVID-19, public health remains top priority, and this allocation will serve to keep our streets clean and our neighborhoods safe,” Vallone said. “Increased trash bin pickups, particularly around our busy commercial corridors, will help ensure safety and sustained quality of life for all those living, commuting, and doing business in Northeast Queens.”

The new pickups are in addition to each Department of Sanitation garage's regularly-scheduled pickups, which were scaled back as the city faced a $9 billion budget shortfall due to the effects of the COVID-19 crisis.

City officials cut $106 million from the Department of Sanitation's operating budget.