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Q&A
Staffing for litter basket pickup and potential service expansion
0:52:39
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107 sec
Council Member Abreu inquires about staffing levels for litter basket pickup and the potential for expanding coverage to high-need areas.
- Current staffing: about 800 crews (1,600 sanitation workers) per week
- DSNY does not anticipate hiring needs beyond normal schedules
- Discussion on challenges of expanding coverage due to misuse of litter baskets
- DSNY attempts to balance removing problematic baskets with community requests for service
Shaun Abreu
0:52:39
How many DSNY personnel are currently assigned to daily litter basket pickup?
0:52:44
And is the department anticipating any hiring needs to support the increase of 31,000,000 by fiscal twenty twenty eight?
0:53:06
What would you say the number was?
0:53:17
And my last question for now is with funding only covering the current service level, what would be required to expand litter basket coverage to high need areas that still support that still report overflowing conditions or lack sufficient basket placement?
Javier Lojan
0:52:51
So the current baseline funding level, it's about 800 crews, so 1,600 sanitation workers a week, And we do not anticipate having to hire outside of its normal hiring schedule right now.
0:53:08
It's 700 it's about 800, so it's 793 crews a So a little under 1,600 sanitation workers.
0:53:32
So I think one of the things to remember, Chair, about the, overflowing litter basket complaints in areas that, you know, may not have the increased level of service is that a lot of times it's due to misuse.
0:53:47
People are, consistently putting household trash in the baskets, and then the basket overflows.
0:53:55
So I think a lot of times, it's really due to that more than just the need of increasing service.
0:54:01
So, you know, I I I think right now with what we have is is sufficient enough.
0:54:06
We we try a lot of times to remove the basket and see if that makes a difference, but then a lot of times we get requests to put it back.
0:54:14
When we put it back, then we get a lot of overflowing litter basket complaints, and then when we go out and evaluate it, it's because of the misuse.
0:54:20
So it's a you know, we try to have a delicate balance between the two and and without having to add additional service to them.