It started because she wanted to better understand what it takes to keep New York City clean – or as she puts it, what it takes to keep the city alive. "If Sanitation isn't out there every day," she says firmly, "nobody else can be out there, because the city becomes uninhabitable."

Meet Dr. Robin Nagle, a professor of anthropology at New York University, better known out in the field as "the girl who's writing the book." Since last fall, she has been accompanying different Sanitation crews on their rounds. The workers thought she would ask questions and take notes, which she does, but many were surprised that she also picks up garbage side-by-side with them. "You can't understand the work just by watching," she explains. "It's in the back, in the legs. And it's a lot tougher than it looks."

She started out of Manhattan 7. After the super's clerk learned that she was actually flinging trash, he put her name on the board. "That was a proud day for me," she recalls with a smile. Commissioner Doherty and Local 831 President Harry Nespoli have each met with Nagle and have offered their support.

"It's amazing what the job takes," Nagle says. "Some crews look like they're choreographed. Their movements are graceful and quick, they anticipate each other, and they have a rhythm." She's equally impressed with the officers. "The public doesn't really know how complex this job is. It calls for constantly making quick, critical decisions, dealing with weather conditions, getting tangled up in traffic, taking care of special events, haggling over truck allocations, being ready to deal with all kinds of different personalities. It's a combination of military strategy and a high-stakes chess game."

In trying to learn as much of the job as possible, Nagle observed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade clean-up, accompanied a mechanical broom operator for the New Year's Eve Times Square clean-up, and has been out with plows and spreaders during this winter's many snow storms. But the heart of the work, she feels, is on the street, doing collection.

"When the book is finished," she explains, "I hope readers will better appreciate the key role of Sanitation in the World Trade Center recovery. But it's even more important that they understand the vital importance of the commitment and work that the men and women of the department do day in and day out.