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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Cluttered Sidewalks in the East Village

East Village trash day
Photo by myself, somewhere in the East Village.

The sidewalks are narrow in most of the older neighborhoods in Manhattan. On trash pick-up days, there is little room for pedestrians to pass by.

New York is tidier than it used to be, but it still has a long way to go. Unfortunately, litter is a way of life. The sidewalks and subway tracks are often the place where wrappers, coffee cups, gum and other stuff winds up on a daily basis.

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In my early days as a New Yorker, I went through a personal crusade against littering (I wrote about it here in an earlier post). It's still shocking to see people, often kids, casually toss stuff on the street when there are trash cans everywhere.

As a dog owner, I really notice what's on the streets. Rupert will come very close to eating paper bags, jujubees and discarded chicken bones. Actually the quantity of chicken bones bewildered me. How is it that we eat so many chicken wings outside?

So when you see the litter in New York, please know that only a fraction of us treat our city poorly. The rest of us are completely disgusted.

Related posts: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, The View of Liberty and Tonight's Winning Numbers, in Sunset Park.

6 comments:

Fashion Schlub said...

I especially love that the girl is leaning on a bin w a "NY recycles" sign when clearly those bags on the sidewalk are filled with bottles and cardboard. Ha!

Shrink to Fit said...

It still amazes me that anyone can toss something on the ground. Where does this idea come from that it is someone else's job to clean up after us? I hope parents are teaching their children to respect our streets like they were their own backyard, or sidewalk, depending on where you live :). I'm in Texas and you know what they say about trash here, lol.

Frank de Jol said...

Unfortunately, on the whole world is just as...:-(

Kitty said...

Hi Miss B
Actually it must have been recycling day, since you're supposed to pack recyclables in clear bags. Looks like a mess though!

Hi Tena
I'm so with you. I don't understand it and the attitude is a blatant disrespect toward one's surroundings. It's terrible.

I'm glad Texans have an attitude toward trash!

Hi Frank
*sigh* yes. Difficult to change people who don't want to be changed.

dianasfaria.com said...

this is one of my greatest peeves of all. & some people on long island seem to think there is nothing wrong with throwing things of out their car windows as they are driving! I get so mad when I see this & I know I should keep quiet lest I get arrested for road rage.

Pat said...

Lots of trash here, and our pick-ups are not as organized, which means that as soon as it's gone, more appears. I am patiently waiting for the enforcement of this law, which Serbia has to do to join the EU.