Brooklyn, NY — New York City Council Member Simcha Felder (D-Boro Park, Midwood, Bensonhurst), Chair of the Council’s Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management held an oversight hearing Tuesday on the Department of Sanitation’s (DSNY) street cleaning program and the Operation Scorecard program conducted by the Mayor’s Office of Operations. Under the City charter, DSNY is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the City’s streets. Since 1975, the Mayor’s Office of Operations has conducted inspections of the city’s streets and sidewalks to measure and report on cleanliness through a program called Operation Scorecard.

“There is no denying that our streets are cleaner than they’ve ever been,” said felder,“but in light of the economy and such high citywide cleanliness ratings, questions exist as to how we continue to keep our streets clean with less money.”

The committee heard testimony from representatives of DSNY as well as the Mayor’s Office of Operations. Felder proposed coordinating the schedules of street cleaning mechanical brooms and garbage pick ups. Felder also questioned why some requests from community districts for decreased street cleaning and alternate side parking hours have been granted while others have been denied.

To accommodate DSNY’s mechicanical broom trucks, alternate side parking (ASP) rules are in effect in 53 of the City’s 59 community districts. These rules prohibit parking on one side of the street for a specified period of time to allow the trucks to pass. In addition to requiring residents to move their vehicles or face stiff penalties, ASP rules often exacerbate local traffic congestion.

(YWN Desk – NYC)