More Than 200 Over-Filled Trash Cans Taken From Harlem: Report

HARLEM, NY — The city is facing backlash from Harlem residents after removing more than 200 trash cans from Harlem because the receptacles were consistently full, according to reports.

The city Sanitation Department has taken 223 trash cans off Harlem street corners in the past year in an effort to cut down on misuse of the bins, the New York Times first reported. Area residents and local officials told the Times that the trash can purge has only made the neighborhood's garbage problems worse.

Instead of cutting down on illegal dumping of household trash, people are just placing their garbage where the bins used to stand, officials told the Times.

"It’s not just an eyesore — it’s a health issue that negatively impacts the people who live and work in this community," State Assemblywoman Inez Dickens told the newspaper.

Dickens told the Times that her office has received hundreds of complaints since the city removed the cans and that residents and businesses are being ticketed by the city Sanitation Department for garbage that winds up in front of their buildings.

But the city paints a different picture. Sanitation Department Comissioner Kathryn Garcia told the Times that removing misused trash cans: "Seems counterintuitive, but it has been very effective." Garcia told the paper that Harlem still has 1,399 pedestrian trash cans, more than both the Upper West and East sides.

The green trash cans that adorn New York City sidewalks are intended for pedestrian use only, according to the city Sanitation Department's rules and regulations. The guidelines state that the bins are intended for items such as "candy wrappers, cigarette packages, fruit skins" and other "light garbage." Use of the bins for household garbage and commercial waste is deemed "improper" and people are subject to fines of up $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second and $350 for every following offense.

Read the full New York Times article here.

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