More Garbage Pickups Coming To Upper East Side, Leaders Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Upper East Siders exasperated by trash-strewn sidewalks and overflowing litter baskets can breathe a sigh of relief (and unplug their noses): more sanitation pickups are on the way.

City Councilmember Julie Menin announced Friday that she would allocate $120,000 from her office's budget to fund added pickups across the Upper East Side's community district.

As it stands, the Upper East Side gets three daily pickups by Sanitation trucks, six days a week — plus two on Sunday. Now, through June, a fourth daily pickup will be added four days a week, bringing the weekly total to 24.

Sanitation has been a top issue in the neighborhood for months. Rat sightings surged on the Upper East Side last year, according to 311 complaints, while trash began piling up last fall as the vaccine mandate for city employees took effect — causing some Sanitation workers to stay home.

"Our residential neighborhoods and business corridors that make New York so special all depend on safe, clean streets," Menin said in a statement. "Adding DSNY services to stop litter baskets overflowing means cleaner streets and an improved quality of life for all New Yorkers."

Menin was joined at Friday's announcement on the corner of First Avenue and East 79th Street by Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson, as well as neighborhood leaders like Andrew Fine, Vice President of the East 86th Street Association.

Menin called the pickups sorely needed since the Upper East Side is one of the city's densest neighborhoods by population — creating high demand at the litter baskets that line its avenues.

Related coverage:

• Trash Piles Up On Upper East Side As Vaccine Mandates Take Effect
  
• Upper East Side Rat Sightings Surge In 2021, Complaints Show