Image credit: Mayor’s Office
On April 6, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched the City Cleanup Corps, a new economic recovery program designed to help clean and beautify the city through the creation of 10,000 jobs for projects to revitalize public spaces.
The Corps will start with 1,000 hires in April. In July, more than 7,700 positions will be posted and will build toward 10,000 positions. The positions will be in ten different agencies, including the Department of Transportation, the New York City Housing Authority, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Parks & Recreation.
The Corps’ work will revolve around revitalizing public spaces and neighborhoods, including a citywide graffiti removal campaign, designing murals, maintaining Open Streets, working on community gardens, and pressure washing sidewalks. The Corps will focus on areas identified by communities, elected officials and business districts and the 33 neighborhoods that have endured the greatest impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City Cleanup Corps is modeled after the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal-era initiative which provided job opportunities to thousands of Americans to work on public lands, parks and forests during the Great Depression. The Corps’ logo is inspired by the Civilian Conservation Corps logo and other New Deal-era imagery.
The City Cleanup Corps was originally announced in the Mayor’s Recovery for All of Us plan, and will be funded by the federal stimulus plan.
Mayor de Blasio stated, “In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt built the nation’s economic recovery by improving infrastructure, putting Americans back to work, and restoring civic pride in our public spaces. Today, New York City is leading the way in doing it again. Building a recovery for all of us means creating thousands and thousands of jobs that will make our city a safer and more beautiful place to live, work, and play. That mission has never been more important. Together, we will deliver the kind of recovery that New Yorkers deserve.”
Council Member Adrienne Adams stated, “As we begin the City’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the new City Cleanup Corps will play a crucial role in greening and beautifying our public open spaces while employing thousands of New Yorkers. The particular focus on the neighborhoods hardest hit by the virus is important because equity should be at the center of our recovery efforts. I look forward to the creation of the CCC and the impact it will have on our communities.”
Council Member Francisco Moya stated, “Beautifying our parks and spaces, and cleaning our streets throughout the pandemic have been a labor of love for so many New Yorkers, who have volunteered their time, especially across my district. Now we can truly double down on having cleaner neighborhoods that we can be proud of while getting thousands of New Yorkers back to work. The City Cleanup Corps is great news for our City as we work to recover from this pandemic.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)
I thought the Sanitation Department did all this already. 7,700 more people on the payroll probably doing nothing all day.