New York City littered with trash after sanitation budget is cut by $106 million

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Sanitation commissioner on how the department’s $106 million budget cuts are affecting New York City

Kathryn Garcia, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation, and Joe Temperino, owner of Liberty Pest Control, spoke to Fox News Digital about the increased amounts of trash and rats littering New York following the $106 million cut to the department’s budget in June.

Just over a month after the Sanitation Department had its budget cut by millions, New Yorkers are beginning to see the effects. Throughout the city people are noticing trash overflowing wastebaskets, garbage littering the streets, and seemingly fearless pests, including rats and raccoons, scattering around the sidewalks.

In June, New York City’s sanitation budget was slashed by $106 million, which reduced the pickup of public litter baskets by 60%, in addition to several other changes.

Kathryn Garcia, commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation, says the decline in conditions is the effects of a variety of service cutbacks.

“We ended the curbside composting program, we are not running any safe disposal events. We closed our special waste sites and we're not doing highway sweeping. So much of what the city is experiencing is a real downshift in our resources,” Garcia told Fox News Digital.

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She also said the department has had to reduce head count significantly, letting go of 411 uniformed staff and 88 civilian staff members.

As the sanitation commissioner points out, New York City is facing significant economic issues resulting from coronavirus-related shutdowns and a mass exodus of its wealthy residents. She believes sanitation should be among the last departments to receive budget cuts as it plays a vital role in the health of the city, both physically and economically.

“Sanitation is one of the most, if not the most essential service in the city of New York… No one wants to be opening a new business or trying to reopen a business that's been closed when it's dirty, and no resident wants to be in a neighborhood that's dirty,” said Garcia.

According to Joe Temperino, owner of Liberty Pest Control, the influx of trash in the streets is the reason people are also noticing an increased presence of rats.

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“Due to the sanitation and due to the extreme amount of trash that's out there, the problem is becoming a lot worse in New York City and in the boroughs, unfortunately,” Temperino told Fox News Digital.

A large number of Temperino's 4,300 clients have had to stop pest control treatments due to financial woes caused by coronavirus-related shutdowns. The pest control business owner says this is a big issue not only for his business but for businesses all around the city because, if left untreated, the pest problem will get “very, very severe.”

“The health department's gonna be back out there soon. And when they're out there, that's going to cause fines and other issues that us New Yorkers definitely don't need right now.”

Temperino is offering a number of his clients, many of which are restaurants, pro-bono treatments for what he says is “preventative maintenance” – because if left untreated, the pest problem will get out of hand and businesses will pay the consequences.

However, with coronavirus guidelines on businesses within the city remaining extremely strict, it seems restaurants will be limited to outdoor service for a while longer – leaving the streets with more trash, owners with less revenue, and customers fearing a rat may run under their table.