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New York's Strongest...at Your Disposal! |
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September 2016
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Our Foundation for New York’s Strongest launches tomorrow with an unprecedented fashion event – and an exclusive ticket rate is now available for all DSNY employees! A limited number of tickets are available – just use our 50% off code to buy tickets for $50. Visit Eventbrite and use the promotional code EMPLOYEE. Ticket sales directly support the Foundation’s mission to highlight our teams’ dedication, raise public awareness for zero waste and ultimately establish a DSNY museum. Refreshments will be served, and business or cocktail attire is required.
Check out what the Post, the Observer and New York Magazine have written about this event.
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Elizabeth Balkan Tapped Foundation Executive Director
Director of Policy and Senior Advisor to the Commissioner Elizabeth Balkan has been appointed Executive Director of the Foundation for New York’s Strongest. Elizabeth joined DSNY in 2014, coming from the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. She has a background in environmental policy and lived and worked in China, including time spent researching municipal waste management there as a Fulbright fellow. Plus, she’s fluent in Mandarin. Elizabeth will build strategic partnerships to promote zero waste and pursue creative, new ways to highlight how our employees keep New York City healthy, safe and clean.
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York Rescue Mission Joins Organics Collection
BRS’ Apartment Programs Coordinator Tal Zaken assists the New York Rescue Mission begin sorting organics. | |
The New York City Rescue Mission got with the program – our Organics Collection Pilot Program! Just a few weeks ago, Manhattan 1’s Wilson Arroyo noticed that the Mission generates a lot of food scraps while preparing more than 400 meals a day. Thanks to his tip, the Bureaus of Recycling & Sustainability and Cleaning & Collection got to work, reaching out to the Mission on benefits of the organics program and setting them up with all the brown bins they’ll need. (Eight, to be exact, which will hold 300 gallons of scraps.) Space there is limited, so BRS worked with Mission improve how the organization manages and stores recyclables and garbage – bolstering their overall waste management practices. The Mission is now filling their bins three times a week. Thanks to them and our cross-bureau effort, we’re yet another stop closer to our zero-waste goals!
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Mierle Ukeles at the Queens Museum
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On September 18, the Queens Museum is opening its retrospective of DSNY’s Artist-in-Residence Mierle Laderman Ukeles. Since the late 1960s, Ukeles’ performances, sculptural installations
and writing have explored issues profoundly important today, including the cultures of work and labor and urban and community resilience. She promoted radically, actively valuing sanitation work, not dismissing or hiding it. Learn more and see the exhibit. |
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DSNY Family
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BRS Public Education Communications Coordinator Joan Byrnes just married Brian Daly on July 16, 2016. The happy couple tied the knot at Duckwalk Vineyards in Southold, New York. Want to congratulate them? Place an online order for recycling materials! |
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Good to Know
DSNY’s Health Care Facility is on-hand to answer questions about the Zika virus, which can be passed through mosquito bites or (in rare circumstances intimate contact and blood). While most people infected will not get sick, those who do most often suffer fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. The most vulnerable people are women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, because the virus can cause severe birth defects. Remember:
- Use insect repellant;
- When outdoors, wear clothing to cover exposed skin;
- Remove standing water around your workplace or home; and
- Seek medical attention if you develop symptoms.
Concerned? Call the HCF at 212.487.4457 and visit the Health Department online. |
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From the Commissioner
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Kathryn Garcia
Last month, the Department of Sanitation and Business Integrity Commission released a study of the private carting industry in New York City. The results of that study are astounding.
We learned that by creating commercial waste collection zones for private carters to service – instead of crisscrossing the city on long, inefficient routes – truck traffic associated with commercial waste hauling could be slashed as much as 68%. New Yorkers and businesses in every borough, every neighborhood could have cleaner air, safer streets and quieter nights.
Moving to a zoned collection system will benefit everyone. Businesses need reliable service, and zones could mean less travel time, more reliability and fewer unexplained charges. Because zones would remove today’s system of short-term contracts, the private carting industry would have a more stable, longer-term customer base – while reducing unnecessary wear-and-tear on their fleet from the extra 15 million miles driven each year.
Making this regulatory change won’t happen overnight – and it shouldn’t. We’ve proposed a time frame of five to seven years. This would give all interested parties a seat at the negotiation table. Carters, labor, advocates and businesses will be involved as the City moves toward the new structure. With business and industry as partners, we will bring an unprecedented level of quality and efficiency to our commercial waste industry. We expect “private carting” to be a buzzword for some time to come. You can learn more here and read the study.
Thank you for all that you do 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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