TRASH ON NOSTRAND AVE STRIP

snowboardqueen

This may have been posted before.., but the amount of trash I see daily on Nostrand Ave, is astounding.

Are there not enough trash can? Do people really just throw their trash on the ground?

I walk down that stretch in the wee hrs. and there is always fresh trash littering about.

I wonder what it would take to clean up Nostrand Ave. from Eastern Parkway to Fulton Ave., and have it stay clean.

If I lived on Nostrand Ave. I would love to shoot the street activity with time lapse video to try and identify the problem or problems.

I see on lone older woman every morning sweeping in front of her store and wonder if the community needs more store owners like her, or is the foot traffic the greatest culprit?

It's a puzzle to me. Anyone who lives or works on Nostrand Ave have any insight into this?

mr. met

every commercial street in crown heights is like this. you see it to a lesser extent on less business-oriented avenues.

you ever see someone walking down the street eating chicken out of a box and throwing the bones on the ground?

part of "crown heights culture" that i wish would die.

xlizellx

i think it's a bit of a few things.

1 - there aren't enough trash cans. i know that i have walked 2,3,4,even 5 blocks before coming to a trashcan. i am the sort of person who will carry garbage in her hand for a while to get it thrown away - some people aren't as patient. i think that if there was one on every block or every-other block, there would be less on the ground.

2 - if people see the place is already trashed, they feel ok with adding to the mess. until the residents and store-owners all start cleaning up, people will keep adding to it.

3 - the lack of education of children about litter is astounding. i teach elementary school and most of my kids don't know what the word means. they have not heard of recycling (even though it's apparently a city mandate). they don't know it, therefore they don't do it.

4 - the more take-out food places, the more trash. people start eating/drinking right away. chicken bones, used napkins, straw wrappers, etc. have to go right away. i think take-out places should put their own trashcans right outside of their shops to help with that.

5 - the more bus stops there are, the more trash. i rarely find a trashcan at a bus stop. not sure why. if i am waiting for the bus with a cup or some food and finish it before the bus comes, what am i to do? again, i'll put my empty cup or bag of takeout into my bag or purse until i find one (ie: when i get off the bus), but some people won't do that to their personal property or they don't have the room to do so.

Nostrand fits into these above situations and it should be fixed. i've seen an improvement on Franklin over the years, because shop owners are taking more pride/responsibility over their streets. if only landlords/supers would do that same.

jeffrey

People driving through just toss garbage out their car windows, as well.

Seen it often when I'm driving, and on foot...napkins, fast-food wrappers and cups, whatever.

Happens often on the major avenues (Bedford, Franklin, etc.) but I've also noticed people do it while driving down the residential side streets as well.

What is so hard about taking it with you when you get out of your car?

How do some people just think it's okay to just toss it overboard wherever they may happen to be, and make their stuff someone else's problem?

Urban tumbleweed: Yup, apparently just part of life in the big city.

jeffrey

Great points, xlizellx.

mr. met

1 - there aren't enough trash cans.

where are you walking? i don't think this is true.

2 - if people see the place is already trashed, they feel ok with adding to the mess.

yes

i've seen an improvement on Franklin over the years, because shop owners are taking more pride/responsibility over their streets.

because there are new shop owners

chekhovian

start from the source: takeout food should be banned and food suppliers should take more responsibility for wasteful packaging.

stop drinking from plastic bottles.

mr. met

start from the source: takeout food should be banned and food suppliers should take more responsibility for wasteful packaging.

haha

why don't parents just teach their kids that littering is stupid and they shouldn't do it?

mr. met

i was riding my bike up classon ave and a middle-aged man was leaning against a tree taking a piss.

how can we stop that?

lo kee

xlizellx wrote: i think it's a bit of a few things.

i teach elementary school and most of my kids don't know what the word [litter] means. they have not heard of recycling (even though it's apparently a city mandate). they don't know it

.

Why do you think that is?

mr. met

it's because of the fast-food containers, Lo Kee.

:roll:

lo kee

obvs

mr. met

it gets depressing when you really think about the systemic problems that this neighborhood has.

have to just try to concentrate on the good things, and there are plenty.

jeffrey

mr. met wrote: i was riding my bike up classon ave and a middle-aged man was leaning against a tree taking a piss.

how can we stop that?

How, without force?

Take away the trees, of course...

mr. met

now we're thinking!

chekhovian

I know my comment above is a bit egregious, but properly disposed garbage doesn't disappear. I think it's good for some people (us) to see the amount of excess trash in front of their (our) faces rather than it ending up in the middle of an ocean.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html

ap

Subject: You can request the city add trash cans to your block

The trash is horrendous along Franklin Avenue, too. Mostly due to ignorant/lazy people who just don't give a crap about their neighborhood. The streets and sidewalks are littered with take-out containers, chicken bones, empty potato-chip bags, soda bottles, etc. It's despicable.

I do not think it's due to a lack of trash cans, but you can go online to 311 and either (a) complain about a specific block or (b) request a trash can for any commercial street corner:

http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/allServices.htm?requestType=service&levelOneId=D7C8F010-05B5-11DE-AC9C-EF5AFBC474DE&levelTwoId=D7C8F010-05B5-11DE-AC9C-EF5AFBC474DE-0&levelThreeId=D7C8F010-05B5-11DE-AC9C-EF5AFBC474DE-0-0&serviceName=Litter+Basket+Request+or+Complaint&finalSubLevel=3&intentId=E9E66310-8137-11DE-8E9F-96DAE110FEB8

ishtar

mr. met wrote:

start from the source: takeout food should be banned and food suppliers should take more responsibility for wasteful packaging.

haha

why don't parents just teach their kids that littering is stupid and they shouldn't do it?

Exactly!

I've watched people stand 2 feet from the trash can on Franklin and just toss their garbage on the ground.

chekhovian

no, litter and trash are synoymous: they are both waste. you think trash that is placed into a plastic container then wheeled away to some landfill in west virginia suddenly becomes divine? there's too much waste, there will never be enough landfills for the non-degradable plastics and materials that are being disposed at too massive a volume.

southofsouth

the parents don't teach their children about littering because they litter also. I taught MS in Crown Heights, students peed INSIDE the school, and most of the adults/teachers in the school could care less. We had a trip to the park once and he kids and adults left an incredible mess, and no way were they going to clean it up. Not my job, was the answer.

disgraceful.

xlizellx

i agree with southofsouth - the adults are as bad as the kids. the amount of urination in public and throwing of trash is incredible. i can't figure it out - is it because less people own and more rent in this area than in other areas? people don't feel it's their "job" to take care of the neighborhood since they don't own any of it.

bklyn50

Anyone interested in doing fundraising for Public Service Announcements (PSAs)? Advertising is used to sell things of dubious value (including values). An encompassing campaign of PSAs throughout the community would help to change peoples behavior over time.

The educators who previously posted are correct. Many children come to school now with no values and very little training in the time honored institution of SHAME. (see Jewish mothers). This institution, greatly attributed to Jewish mothers has always been prevalent in any society where the family was intact, and the community parented as a collective whole (african proverb: It takes a community to raise a child).
Most adult persons of good faith no longer take the time to address small children misbehaving, assigning it as "someone else's job". This is vaguely similar to the disconnected youth who felt that picking up after they made a mess was "someone else's job"

won't ub my nabor

I think xlizellx makes some great points. In addition, part of the problem is - what we call in my house - "lack of home trainin'" as southofsouth points out.

I actually participated in the Franklin Avenue Clean Up sponsored by the Crow Hill Community Association. I live closer to Nostrand, but thought it was a great project so wanted to pitch in.

As we were cleaning there were groups of guys sitting on their stoop just watching us. Annoyed, I interrupted their conversation and asked why they didn't bother to pitch in since it was, after all, their block that we were cleaning. One of them responded, "'Cause we need more pretty ladies like you to teach us the right way." Clearly, they weren't taking me seriously.

I continued to collect the trash, but after picking up about three discarded chicken bones from in front of the same stoop, I picked up one of the bones, pointed it to the guys and said "why are they so many damn chicken bones on the ground around here ... you don't see that in other neighborhoods" One of them turned to me in all seriousness and replied "'cause the 'hood got a lot of chicken spots." Even though he'd missed my point, we all had a good laugh at that one.

I prodded a bit more. I honestly think some of them were ready to pitch in (perhaps, in big part because they felt I was a "pretty lady" giving them some attention), but ultimately no one bothered stepping up. I think it's because they were around their boys and didn't want look soft. Damn shame.

One of the ladies that I was cleaning with asked me why I even bothered to waste my breath speaking with them. As I explained, I think it is important to have these conversations, because otherwise there is no chance that it will change. Like another poster said, kids are perpetuating what they see their parents do...

bklyn50

reply to xlizellx:

I've been told by sanitation workers that garbage cans simply get stolen. They seem to make excellent barbeque pits. No snitchin' makes this a perfectly logical crime, and then the community, as a whole, suffers for one person's selfishness.

xlizellx

bklyn50, that makes sense - it's ridiculous - but it makes sense.

xlizellx

bklyn50, that makes sense - it's ridiculous - but it makes sense.

mr. met

come on, there are still plenty of garbage cans

mr. met

come on, there are still plenty of garbage cans

catsitter

I've seen it -- people just throw trash on the ground, throw it from cars, throw it from the subway onto the platform and vice versa. I've also seen plenty of garbage cans. I wonder too if they treat their home the same way, or their car the same way... probably not. I've seen folks from pretty nice cars throwing the trash... And i don't mean just chicken bones or food, annoying as that is but yes cans, wrappers, whatever -- trash! I don't understand it. I used to live on Nostrand, I'm moving -- and the super always sweeps in front of our building, he's amazing. But the amount of trash that collects, wow.....

ishtar

catsitter wrote: I wonder too if they treat their home the same way, or their car the same way... probably not.

Some people in my building refuse to dispose of their garbage properly. They just open the compactor closet and toss on the floor. I've also seen these same people toss chicken bones on the floor, piss in the elevator and spit all up and down the hallway. So, yes some people treat their home like a dump.

xlizellx

is there a community organization that we can get involved with? i know franklin has crow hill and they do a lot of cleanups and whatnot. maybe working with an already established organization would work.

franklin ave: http://www.crowhillcommunity.org/