East New York Residents Have Had Enough With Garbage Piling Up At Empty Lots, Streets: 'You're Not Supposed To Live Like This'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Residents in East New York say there is so much garbage being dumped around city-owned lots, people can't even walk on the sidewalks. Now neighbors are saying enough is enough.
CBS2's has more in a story only on 2.
As the garbage piles up, so does Andre Donald's anger. For the past year, he's watched in horror as garbage has stacked on the sidewalks adjacent to the four empty lots next to his house in East New York.
"It's disgusting. It's gross. It's just not right. You're not supposed to live like this," Donald said.
The lots at the corner of Montauk and Glenmore Avenues are both privately and city owned. Donald says overgrown weeds in the lots have been a problem from years - but the trash on the sidewalks has escalated during the pandemic. His family has made more than a dozen complaints to 311, but to their dismay, the garbage has not been cleaned up.
"I play with my son and you're liable to see anything run around out here. Rodents, possum, it's just really bad," Donald said. "I want this to be cleaned up, and I don't know how to stop the garbage from coming. But if it looks clean, it would deter people."
Neighbor Armani Reese agrees.
"I feel like people don't respect the neighborhood because of all this garbage," Reese said. "When people come here they just think it's a dump site and it's not. People live here and there are kids. Older people."
Donald says he's so frustrated with this constant garbage near his home, he's considered coming out here and picking it up himself. He adds things have gotten so bad, people can no longer use the sidewalks and have to resort to the road to pass by. He wants something done - now.
"There's no excuse. Now," he said. "I didn't make a big deal because of the pandemic but we're starting to open things up we have to have this cleaned."
The fed up homeowner is pleading with his neighbors to take pride in their neighborhood and stop the dumping, and for the city and other owners to do their jobs- and clean up the mess.
CBS2 News contacted the city. Friday afternoon, the Department of Sanitation said, the lots will be cleaned on Monday, as a result of a 311 call and an investigation this spring.
The city adds it will also look into whether locks or additional security can prevent dumping.
Kiran Dhillon contributed to this report.