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New York's Strongest...at Your Disposal! |
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October 2016
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DSNY Launches the Foundation for New York’s Strongest
The Department launched its Foundation for New York’s Strongest at the Spring Street salt shed – with a Fashion Week event that earned local, national and international attention for the critical service we provide to New York City each and every day. Fashion Designer Heron Preston enhanced our worn, decommissioned uniforms and repurposed them. He wanted to honor the Strongest because Preston said, “without them, we would die. We would literally die.” Led by Executive Director Elizabeth Balkan, who serves DSNY as Director of Policy and Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, the Foundation promotes Sanitation Workers’ dignity and commitment, while also supporting the Department’s environmentalism policies. The event was a fundraiser for the Foundation – and keep reading Trash Talk for what our new nonprofit will do next.
Take a Virtual Tour of the most talked-about Fashion Week event.
See the New York Times coverage.
Check out what The New Yorker wrote.
Read the event dispatch from Support Services’ Loren Trapanese. |
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DSNY at the Queens Museum
The Queens Museum retrospective dedicated to DSNY’s Artist-in-Residence Mierle Laderman Ukeles is now open, and it artistically boasts the importance of our work. Since the late 1960s, Ukeles’ performances, sculptural installations and writing have explored critical issues, including the cultures of work and labor and urban and community resilience. The retrospective includes photos and displays – including hundreds of pairs our work gloves refashioned into blooming trees. The Maintenance Art retrospective will be on display through February 19, 2017.
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Getting to Zero
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This is what getting to zero looks like. There are so few black bags! Deputy Commissioner Bridget Anderson caught this outside our offices at 44 Beaver Street in Manhattan.
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NYC Organics continues to grow! Weekly food scraps and yard waste collection in Brooklyn began two years ago — and with last week’s expansion, we’re serving almost 338,000 Brooklynites! Commissioner Garcia announced the expansion with Assembly Member Peter Abbate, Jr., along with a representative from Council Member Vincent Gentile’s office – and our brown bin character. |
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Headlining
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Curbed highlighted the Department’s work transforming Fresh Kills Landfill into Freshkills Park – and featured our own Waste Management Engineering Director Ted Nabavi.
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American City & County touted DSNY’s use of biodiesel in our fleet of 4,000+ diesel vehicles.
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Bragging Rights
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Brooklyn North 8 Superintendent John Imbriale represented DSNY in a charity softball game against Fox 5’s Good Day New York team. The game was a fundraiser for Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation.
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BBM Carpenter Keith Miguel donates his time and skill to the Staten Island Conference House at the organization’s annual 1776 Peace Conference. The event commemorates the peace conference that took place in Tottenville in 1776 and provides a sense of what life was like in the 1700s. The fundraiser supports the Conference House and educates New Yorkers in its role in the American Revolution.
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If you’re not following us on social media, you’re missing one of the 10 Companies with Unexpectedly Good Twitter Content! HubSpot featured Recycling & Sustainability’s commercial organics post and Public Affairs’ Pokémon GO organics post. Follow us on Twitter here and here!
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DSNY Family
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Medical Division technician Sherina Ali welcomed her newest grandchild to the family. Jordan Alvin arrived February 19, 2016, here he is with big sister and senior grandchild Samya Alina. Congrats!
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In Case You Missed It
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Facilities Planning & Engineering recently donned team t-shirts and broke bread to celebrate numerous milestones – from spearheading efforts to meet the FY17 commitment plan to thanking summer interns for their hard work to welcoming an upcoming family addition.
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Good to Know
- The Sanitation Association de Latinos welcomes new members! Its mission is to bring unity among DSNY employees – and offers services and activities. Learn more or email SAL.
- Flu season has arrived – and each year the virus sends more than 200,000 people to the hospital. Influenza is a contagious, respiratory illness caused by a virus that infects people through the nose, throat and lungs. The US Centers for Disease Control recommends the flu vaccine for people six months and older – and it’s especially important for people older than 65, pregnant woman and anyone diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart disease. The Health Care Facility is reminding us how to stay healthy: Get a flu vaccine. Vaccinations are free to City employees at in-network doctors’ offices, some pharmacies and Advantage Care Physician’s offices. For more information contact HCF at (212) 437-4457 or learn more online.
- Thursday, October 6 the Department of Citywide Administrative Services is supporting the second annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day. Learn how to register!
- The New York Blood Center needs DSNY’s help! Give blood – and save lives! You are the missing blood type! Learn more and donate.
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The Social Scene
We’re spreading the word about sending zero waste to landfills by 2030! At bus shelters, on phone kiosks and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram you’ll be seeing our newest campaigns: bright and colorful “punny” food-waste posts and Behind the Bin posts, highlighting the employees who are making our 0x30 goals possible. Spot one of our ads on the street? We’d love to hear from you! Take a selfie with it and email it to Trash Talk!
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Farewell
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With deep sadness we bade farewell to Staten Island 3 Sanitation Worker Stephen Pinto. Stephen was the son of retired Sanitation Worker Nicholas Pinto, and he is survived by fiancée Tanya Padula, clerical associate in the Staten Island Borough.
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Brooklyn 4 Sanitation Worker Michael Grossman passed away, unexpectedly while off-duty. leaving behind a loving family. His sister Shari has created a fundraiser to help his children.
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Friends and family of 29-year DSNY veteran Rafael “Ralph” Bonilla passed away earlier this summer. He retired from DSNY in 1999, after serving at the broom garage in Bronx and then as a supervisor at the 135th Street Marine transfer Station in Manhattan.
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From the Commissioner
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Kathryn Garcia
Sending zero waste to landfills is a lofty goal. No garbage at all? Back in 1989 when we began collecting metal, glass and newspaper in 14 garages, there were two overarching challenges: restructuring operations and changing New Yorkers’ habits. The photo taken outside our 44 Beaver Street offices (just scroll above) proves we succeeded in both – and that today’s next big steps will become tomorrow’s standard operations.
As we expand NYC Organics, I welcome all DSNY colleagues – uniformed and civilian – to embrace their role as a de facto Department Ambassador. Whether on the job or socializing off-hours, a workforce nearly 10-thousand strong can share simple facts that help bring about far-reaching change. Many New Yorkers would be interested to learn that our food scraps and yard trimmings will one day create clean energy to heat our homes and offices. To get there, our team-effort is now expanding organics service to Brooklyn South 10, Queens West 5 and Queens East 11. By the end of this calendar year, 961,700 residents will have organics curbside collection; by the end of 2018, all New Yorkers will have this or easy access to a drop-off site.
Electronic waste collection is another way we’re getting to zero, and we’re launching our e-waste pick-up program in Staten Island this month. New Yorkers will make appointments for a dedicated Sanitation crew collect and recycle their unwanted TVs, computers and other electronics. Under state law, it's illegal to throw away e-waste with garbage, and by making it easy to recycle, we’re keeping toxins like lead, mercury and cadmium from contaminating our environment.
DSNY is always balancing long-term goals with immediate-and short-term demands – and we are up to challenge. Now, while our weather has been almost balmy, New Yorkers have spotted our plows along our streets as part of our comprehensive training for the coming snow season. With academic work in classroom bolstered by real-world practice on plows and spreaders on sector routes, we’re positioned for whatever nature sends our way.
I’m honored to be on a team that does so much to keep New York City healthy, safe and clean.
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New York City Department of Sanitation
125 Worth Street, New York, New York 10013
© 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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