With Trash Complaints Up 120% At Parks This Summer, City Launches Campaign To Tackle Garbage Uptick

From Van Cortlandt to Central Park, the city's greenspaces are in full use these days, and its evident in the amount of trash left behind. As part of an effort to maintain the myriad of leafy terrain, the city Parks Department has introduced a campaign to keep parks pristine amid a dramatic rise of trash complaints across the five boroughs.

The "Toss Your Trash Campaign" will feature signs at bus shelters, grocery stores, and, of course, park entrances to help remind New Yorkers of their responsibility. A public service announcement has also been produced, while reminders to pick up trash will appear on the city's monolithic LinkNYC sites. Signs will also be placed alongside picnic tables and barbecue pits as an added reminder. Parks staffers will also head out in droves to distribute trash bags to visitors.

In a statement, parks commissioner Mitchell Silver, said the city's green parcels are the kind of refuge needed "now more than ever" given the closure of so many amenities during the pandemic. The increased in visitorship across parks comes even as the city slashed the Parks Department's budget by $84 million -- a seventh of the agency's prior budget, according to the NY Times -- as city officials look to close a $9 billion budget shortfall as a result of the virus. Reductions in park staff have been the result of the cutbacks, presenting challenges to the overall maintenance of parks.

Geoffrey Croft with NYC Park Advocates, a parks watchdog group, told Gothamist that any cut from the Parks Department will be felt by New Yorkers.

"The Parks Department is the stepchild of city agencies and for more than four decades our elected officials have refused to adequately fund them," said Croft. "This is squarely on them."

On top of trash pile-ups, lawns across parks have also been neglected as a result of the cutbacks, according to the New York Post, which pointed to "six-inch high grass" sprouting "through the cracks of an asphalt basketball court at Thomas Green Playground in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood, leaving the court unusable."

Silver added, “We are urging all New Yorkers to help out by disposing trash in designated receptacles, or taking it with them when they leave.”

Since the summer began, there have been 2,481 complaints for garbage and litter since August 22nd, compared to 1,130 complaints from the same time a year ago, a 120% increase, according to an analysis of 311 data. Brooklyn saw the most complaints so far this season with 813 complaints, followed by the Bronx, which is home to the most park space, with 794. Queens saw 517 complaints, with Manhattan at 517, and Staten Island with 53. There were 14 complaints logged to 311 that were routed to the Parks Department but no specific location was assigned.

Coordinated cleanup efforts across the five boroughs hosted by New York City Council members and borough presidents will also contribute to the campaign, joining in the ongoing cleanup events by various park groups.