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Q&A
DSNY's current capacity for syringe cleanup
2:00:13
·
81 sec
Council Member Abreu questions DSNY's current capacity for syringe litter cleanup, highlighting the lack of additional funding in the executive plan despite the Council's call for expansion. Commissioner Lojan provides details on the current capacity and cleanup statistics.
- DSNY has 6 officers dedicated to citywide syringe removal
- Over 102,000 needles have been removed in the current fiscal year to date
- DSNY responds immediately to 311 complaints about discarded needles
- The monthly rate of needle removal was not immediately available
Shaun Abreu
2:00:13
Now transitioning to syringe cleanup.
2:00:16
Despite a clear need in the council's 1,100,000 call for 16 new staff to expand syringe, litter cleanup, and environmental enforcement, response, the executive plan includes no additional funding for this critical public health function.
2:00:32
This leaves high foot traffic in vulnerable areas without dedicated capacity to address used syringe collection, is an ongoing risk to both sanitation workers and the public.
2:00:44
What is DSNY's current capacity for syringe litter cleanup, and how many incidents are logged and responded to each month with existing staff?
2:01:08
which Hundred and two thousand?
2:01:25
And what's the monthly rate?
2:01:27
Is it a hundred thousand divided by 12?
2:01:29
Is that what it would be?
2:01:30
Or that would just be the average?
Javier Lojan
2:00:51
So right now, we have six DSNY officers.
2:00:55
Six?
2:00:56
Six dedicated to syringe removal citywide.
2:01:00
And for the current fiscal year to date, we've removed over 102,000 needles,
2:01:10
Hundred and two thousand needles.
2:01:10
Yeah.
2:01:12
One of the things when we get a three and a three one one complaint on a discarded needle is we're required to remove that immediately.
2:01:20
So we respond regardless of what we have to those locations to remove those needles.
2:01:31
Yeah.
2:01:31
I'd have to get you the specific numbers for that.