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Q&A
Council Member Ayala questions DSNY on equitable funding and cleanliness across districts
0:54:53
·
10 min
Council Member Diana I. Ayala engages in a heated discussion with Acting Commissioner Javier Lojan and other DSNY officials about the perceived inequity in sanitation services across different NYC districts. Ayala expresses frustration over the persistent filth in her district despite increased funding and questions the department's claim of equitable resource distribution.
- Ayala challenges DSNY's assertion of equitable funding, citing visible differences in cleanliness between her district and others
- DSNY officials explain that resource allocation is based on need and varies by district, but Ayala argues this approach is insufficient for her area
- The discussion highlights tensions between the council member's on-the-ground observations and the department's data-driven approach to resource allocation
Diana I. Ayala
0:54:53
Good morning.
0:54:55
I have three questions and actually another.
0:54:59
I just happened to get an email from somebody.
0:55:01
Would love for you to hear what it is that, you know, we have to address in in our communities.
0:55:07
And this gentleman just is you know email demanding that I give him a response as to why there's been a surge in sanitation, we don't have a surge in sanitation resources to address the filth and deterioration of our sidewalks.
0:55:21
Which is pretty common.
0:55:23
And that leads me to the question regarding funding across districts.
0:55:27
Is it equitable funding?
0:55:29
Do each does each district get the same amount of money and resources?
0:55:33
And if not, how does DESNY determine how much funding goes to which district?
0:56:12
Is that right though?
0:56:13
Because my understanding is that council member Julie Manon for instance, her district gets more funding than my district.
0:56:21
And I've been told that it's because she has more blocks in her district than I do in mine, but her community is also super not that she doesn't need the services.
0:56:30
I'm not advocating to take you know she can continue to have what she has, but her district you know is relatively cleaner than than mine is, right.
0:56:39
I have a lot of density, I have a lot of social service providers and programs, there's a lot of poverty in my community.
0:56:47
So there are lot of different reasons, right, lack of education, lack of garbage cans that contribute to the garbage buildup in my community.
0:56:58
So I would assume that because of those circumstances, because I see that this is not just you know in my district, but in mostly primarily black and brown communities where there's a lot higher density of poverty that the streets are significantly dirtier.
0:57:16
What is that what formula are you using to determine then, you know, what what tells you that it's that we need equitable distribution of funding if there's a greater need in specific, areas of the city?
0:57:35
My my constituents on calling 311.
0:58:15
But it doesn't look equitable.
0:58:17
That's what I'm trying to determine is how much how much funding does how much funding does each district get?
0:58:26
For services.
0:58:27
Right.
0:58:27
And community board eleven, for instance.
0:58:30
How much how much funding is allocated for community board eleven for cleanup services?
0:59:13
That's fine.
1:00:02
No, but I still fund those same services through another organization.
1:00:06
I don't feel like I should have supplement cleaning services through sanitation because that's a you're a city agency, and that is your responsibility.
1:00:33
Well, I will tell you that I represent East Harlem in the South Bronx and both parts of my district are horrendously filthy on a daily basis.
1:00:43
And I I don't, you know, I I do see sanitation workers out there cleaning and I, you know, I get that there's also a responsibility on behalf of you know New Yorkers right to do the right thing and to throw the litter in the baskets, but I also have an overwhelming vacancy of I don't know vanishing garbage cans throughout the years.
1:01:07
So in my community not everybody has a garbage can to throw disposed garbage in and I just I cannot accept that response because I my understanding is that each garage has their own budget and that my budget is significantly lower than that of my neighboring council member.
1:01:26
I'm not suggesting, I'm just I'm just trying to understand.
1:01:29
Right.
1:01:30
Why?
1:01:31
Because it's visible to whoever wants to look that the amount of garbage that's generated in communities of color is higher.
1:01:41
So I supplement cleaning services through ACE, I supplement services through Uptown Grand Central.
1:01:49
I also supplement services through union settlement, and I still cannot keep up with the demand of garbage.
1:02:09
performed When I call the when I call your staff, they're very, you know, responsive.
1:02:13
Right.
1:02:13
They're great.
1:02:14
I don't think that it's the staff.
1:02:15
I think that I don't think that it's the workforce.
1:02:18
I think that we need additional services.
1:02:20
I think that we need you know more cleaning services.
1:02:23
I see a lot of sanitation workers during the morning.
1:02:25
I don't see them throughout the day unless they're picking garbage.
1:02:28
I don't necessarily see them and throughout the day.
1:02:29
Mean, when I when I'm driving to when I'm driving to work, there's garbage everywhere.
1:02:34
And I just I don't understand how it's possible when we've increased funding for litter basket removals.
1:02:40
We've increased funding, you know, in in supplement cleaning services.
1:02:46
I mean I think on our end we're doing everything that we can to address these issues, but quite frankly while I have seen a reduction in the rat population, and I'll you know I'll give you that, I have not seen the results of this you know cleaner city in my community and that bothers me because it gives the impression to also to my my constituents that we don't care, that as elected officials we don't care.
1:03:16
And here we are putting in money and resources and time and it just doesn't look that way, and I think is that we need more, right.
1:03:22
We need more headcount.
1:03:24
Right.
1:03:24
We need you know maybe to clean twice a I don't know.
1:03:28
I don't know what that looks like, but I would love it if that was a conversation that could be had and that if there are you know resources that you need in terms of the budget that we can negotiate that and we can try to figure it out.
1:03:38
But there is there is a big disconnect in between what you know you're testifying to and what we're seeing in our communities and I think if you just drove by today you would see that it's you know it's not an exaggeration, but I also want to credit the staff because I know that your team works really hard and they've been excellent to you know to our office, but the South Bronx looks equally as bad.
1:04:01
And then my final question I'm sorry chair, regarding the community community board eleven garage, Do you know when when you're expected to completely vacate the garage on 90 Ninth And First?
1:04:46
I'm not saying that they're not cleaning.
1:04:47
I'm saying they're not cleaning enough because we're all good.
1:04:49
You know, we all get what we get.
1:04:51
But in some communities, there's a need for more.
1:04:53
And if nobody's acknowledging that, if nobody's saying that and we're continuing to be okay with what we're doing, then we're never ever going to address this issue in communities like mine.
1:05:04
So you know I appreciate the work of DSNY and I you know I pray that you get more money, but I really just wanna be able to walk down a nice clean street in my community.
1:05:15
You know, it would be really nice.
1:05:17
Thank you.
Javier Lojan
0:55:40
So one of the things that yes.
0:55:43
I mean, it's it's equitable.
0:55:45
We part of our approach every with every function, whether it's litter baskets or PCI or TNT is that we always look to be equitable because every neighborhood is just as important as an x.
0:55:59
So that's where we use the field observations and three one one data to try to see where the gaps are, and we make adjustments on a monthly basis where necessary.
0:57:29
So, again, three one one data is one part of it.
0:57:34
And I know that's not everything.
0:57:35
Right?
0:57:38
A lot of it's also the the main the main focus is our field observations.
0:57:42
Our supervisors we have supervisors assigned to every sector, every day.
0:57:47
And part of their job is to report any conditions, whether it's, you know, drop offs, dump outs, overflown litter baskets.
0:57:57
And that's part of what we do every week when we have these borough commands down.
0:58:02
And when we see these numbers go up or these kind of conditions, we always make adjustments where necessary.
0:58:09
It's not like we're just going to say okay, it's fine just because it's a certain district.
0:58:12
No, it's equitable across every community district.
0:58:24
In terms of sorry.
0:58:34
So we don't really allocate specific funds to it.
0:58:36
It's more just the number of posts.
0:58:39
So I can give you the number.
0:58:55
Stats.
0:58:57
About that.
0:58:57
I just got that here.
0:59:09
Sorry.
0:59:10
I'm just I'm gonna get that number.
1:00:12
Councilmember, and I have the numbers here.
1:00:14
So your district actually gets 11 more weekly baskets of trucks than c d five.
1:00:23
So we are, you know, looking at that and and allocating where necessary.
1:00:28
So you are getting more weekly baskets or trucks than council district five.
1:01:56
So I think one of the things also that and I'll be glad to, you know, share any pictures with you.
1:02:02
We we have these cleanups done daily and we take photos before and after pictures because we also like to make sure that the work is being
1:04:23
Right now, we don't have an end date, but we'll be glad to sit down with you and your team and kinda work out those details in the future.
1:04:32
would And just also, I just wanna add, council member, that I'm I'm I'll be glad to either do a walk through with you and and kinda see some of these issues that you're seeing because not all of them are attributed to our lack of cleaning.
1:04:43
Some of them could be other reasons.
1:04:44
So if I'm obviously
1:04:53
Right.
1:05:17
Thank you.
Gale A. Brewer
0:58:29
Right.
1:04:46
Yeah.
Joshua Goodman
0:59:13
If you don't mind, Deputy Speaker, I'd just like to add a couple of things.
0:59:16
Mean, the service is not equal.
0:59:18
It's equitable, and it's based on the need in the district.
0:59:21
Not every district has the same needs.
0:59:22
You ran a comparison, for example, with Councilmember Menon's district.
0:59:26
We run derelict vehicle services in your district.
0:59:29
People abandon cars.
0:59:30
She gets virtually zero because it's not a problem in her district.
0:59:34
If Councilmember Menon I'm sorry to pick on you, Councilmember, just because she used juicy example were to say, Well, how come Deputy Speaker Ayala gets derelict vehicle services and I don't?
0:59:42
We would say, Because you don't have the issue.
0:59:44
Your district receives far more of different types of cleaning services tailored to the needs of the district.
0:59:49
Also, worth mentioning that many members of this council opt to supplement with discretionary funding to DSNY.
0:59:57
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe DSNY does not currently receive discretionary funding from your office.
Julie Menin
1:04:32
Okay.
1:04:32
I
Althea V. Stevens
1:04:51
Right.