Clean City Alliance workers. Image Credit: Office of Mayor Eric Adams/The Sanitation Foundation.
On June 30, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), and the Sanitation Foundation announced a new initiative, the “Clean City Alliance,” to clean high-traffic commercial corridors in underserved areas citywide. The Sanitation Foundation is the Sanitation Department’s official non-profit.
While property owners are legally obligated to keep their sidewalks clean, businesses in many neighborhoods pay to form Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), which contract with outside groups to keep sidewalks clean. However, neighborhoods without BIDs often struggle to keep streets and sidewalks as clean as their BID counterparts. The “Clean City Alliance” is a privately-funded philanthropic effort to help these non-BID neighborhoods keep their commercial corridors clean.
The “Clean City Alliance” aims to organize cleaning efforts in communities without BIDs, and will provide sidewalk cleaning and litter removal services to such neighborhoods for set timeframes. During these times, the Sanitation Foundation and DSNY will work closely with local stakeholders to ensure the neighborhoods remain clean following the conclusion of their efforts. The initiative will also be a source of employment opportunities, hiring locally.
The “Clean City Alliance” will begin by servicing sidewalks in parts of Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, including Nostrand Avenue, from Myrtle Avenue to Eastern Parkway, and Utica Avenue, from Fulton Street to East New York Avenue. Eventually, however, the initiative is expected to expand to other busy commercial corridors without BIDs across all five boroughs.
The launch of the “Clean City Alliance” initiative comes as part of a massive overhaul of cleanliness in New York City, and New Yorkers who wish to support the work of the “Clean City Alliance” can contribute by clicking here.
The Sanitation Foundation is also hosting a Brooklyn Community Cleanup event this Saturday, July 15th at 10 AM. The meeting location is at Fulton Street and Lewis Avenue. To register and for more information, click here. For other Community Cleanup events citywide, click here.
Mayor Adams stated, “Every part of our city deserves to be clean—every street and every neighborhood. With the ‘Clean City Alliance,’ we are building on our ‘Get Stuff Clean’ initiatives, partnering with philanthropic and business partners to improve New Yorkers’ quality of life, and helping businesses thrive.”
Caryl Englander, chair of the board of the Sanitation Foundation stated, “The ‘Clean City Alliance’ is not absolving businesses of their legal and moral responsibility; instead, it’s about showing them the positive outcomes that come from doing what’s right. New York City belongs to all of us. This shared ownership comes with a shared responsibility to keep our city clean and beautiful.”
New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar stated, “This philanthropic initiative will lift a huge burden off the shoulders of working-class and small business owners, who often cannot afford to participate in BIDs shown to keep busy commercial corridors clean. In fact, 98 percent of the city lacks the benefit of BIDs. The ‘Clean City Alliance’ will step in to fill the gap and free us from the vermin and health hazards that litter precipitates.”
By: Dylan Shusterman (Dylan is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)
Source: Mayor Adams, Department Of Sanitation, Sanitation Foundation Announce New Philanthropic Initiative To Provide Sidewalk Cleaning To High-Traffic Commercial Corridors, June 30, 2023.