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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Evan Sweet, Director of Neighborhood Operations at Meatpacking Business Improvement District
3:38:14
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Evan Sweet from the Meatpacking Business Improvement District (BID) testified about the challenges posed by the new public waste containerization rule. He requested additional funding from the City Council to help BIDs and other community groups comply with the new requirements.
- The Meatpacking BID allocates one-third of its budget to sanitation services, employing 12 full-time sanitation staff through a partnership with ACE.
- Implementing the new containerization rule will cost the Meatpacking BID over $100,000 for equipment, plus increased operating costs.
- Sweet expressed concern that without funding, the rule will become an unfunded mandate that penalizes non-profit organizations working to keep streets clean.
Evan Sweet
3:38:14
council members.
3:38:15
And, my name is Evan Sweet.
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I'm the director of neighborhood operations for the Meatpacking Business Improvement District.
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Thank you for your time and opportunity to testify today.
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I'm here to ask the City Council to allocate additional funding to support bids, neighborhood associations and other community groups as we attempt to comply with the administration's new burdensome public waste containerization rule.
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Without city council funding, this rule will become an unfunded mandate that penalizes not for profit organizations that work tirelessly to supplement city agencies keeping streets clean.
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The Meatpacking District is New York City's premier live, work, play cultural district on Manhattan's West Side and central to our bid's mission is managing a public refuse and ensuring neighborhood cleanliness.
3:38:54
The bid allocates one third of our operating budget each year to sanitation services and through our partnership with ACE employs 12 hard working full time sanitation staffers.
3:39:02
These individuals service 100 waste receptacles, sweep 92 block faces and set out between 154 bags of public trash for DSNY collection every day.
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As a result of their hard work, over 60% of public survey responded site cleanliness as a key positive feature of the meat packing district.
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We believe trash containerization is good policy and have even piloted new management practices in the neighborhood.
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However, this rule and the lack of funding to support the acquisition of containers, collection vehicles and other equipment creates an undue burden on budget lines as costs for labor and goods continue to rise.
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Unlike household containerization, which might require a homeowner to purchase $1 to $240 containers, bids service large areas of the city and require multiple specially constructed containers.
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In the Meatpacking District, it will cost over $100,000 to acquire the necessary total storage containers and additional equipment needed to comply.
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In addition to these capital costs, our operating budget will also need to be increased to reflect the additional work that bid staff must undertake to manage this new program and the ongoing maintenance necessary to upkeep these assets.
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During the rule making process, the Mipacking District highlighted five concrete issues that needed to be addressed before implementation.
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Unfortunately, none of them were addressed and the new rule is now in effect.
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As a result, will be challenged in keeping our council districts clean and others are worried about their ability to provide effective supplemental sanitation services and in some cases are worried about being able to continue at all.
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Thank you.