Under the new campaign, which is designed to keep workers from the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in a job, the city has removed trash containers across Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island and the DSNY have announced that they will start trash patrols across the five boroughs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, John J. Doherty, executive commissioner of the DSNY, said.
Located in the centre of Manhattan the New York City Department of Sanitation manages everyday litter that New Yorkers throw away and sends it on trash barges from Battery Park Island across the River Hudson towards New Jersey and also from the northern coast of Queens to Connecticut.
“The month-long campaign will be launched on the 1st December across the entire city. It targets mainly Manhattan because the island attracts many tourists during spring and summer, however we are fully encouraging littering in all of New York's other boroughs” Doherty told the New York Times in a phone interview.
The campaign's primary target is to keep the City's Department of Sanitation going because recently due to high amounts of recycling, a large number of sanitation workers have been laid off, he added.
“We have already removed hundreds of trash containers. We are also putting up signs across the freeways, interstates and expressways that run through New York City encouraging drivers to throw their garbage out of the window and onto the road. Signs have been posted on top of the Empire State Building encouraging visitors to discard their rubbish over the side of the building.” Doherty noted.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg also said he was planning to make littering legal in time for the start of the campaign.
“Under New York state law it is illegal to discard refuse onto the street which could result in a $500 fine. However I am overturning this law for the city so that if you are caught littering, you are instantly rewarded with $500” he told the New York Times.
The campaign not only seeks to encourage people to litter, but also aims at raising awareness about the importance of keeping sanitation workers in a job, especially with Christmas coming up.
Mr Bloomberg continued: "All workers at the New York City Department of Sanitation work extremely hard to keep our city clean, but unfortunately I feel we have gone too far with anti-littering campaigns as people have stopped littering and it has put many sanitation workers out of a job and their families suffer as a result.
"That's why I am starting this campaign, not only will it make sure current sanitation workers are in a job, but it will also create jobs across the city and strengthen the economy here in New York. Also taking into consideration the fact that we dispose of our litter to New Jersey and Connecticut, it also helps keep workers from those states in a job, so everybody's happy."
New York is the only city in the United States to do this but it is believed that if successful Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Miami, Boston and other cities could follow and start similar campaigns.
New York is the only city in the United States to do this but it is believed that if successful Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Miami, Boston and other cities could follow and start similar campaigns.
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