A History of Heroism
April 28, 2020 | By: Maggie Lee
The men and women of the New York City Department of Sanitation are vital first responders. History has thrown many challenges the agency’s way and each time DSNY has risen to the occasion. Here are a few times that they have been instrumental in keeping New York City alive.
1893 Public Health Crisis
Imagine wading knee-deep through mounds of horse manure, dead animals, rotting food, broken furniture, and all manner of muck. In the late 19th century New York City was, quite literally, being buried in trash. Travelers could smell the stench when they were still 6 miles outside of the city.
Disease outbreaks, like cholera and yellow fever, were common and the city’s mortality rate was on par with medieval London. DSNY’s predecessor agency, the Department of Street Cleaning (DSC), was founded in 1881 amid what was essentially a public health crisis. Mired in political corruption, they did not succeed in cleaning the city until 1893, when a new mayor was able to briefly oust Tammany Hall from power and appoint Colonel George Waring to be the commissioner of the DSC. In a remarkably short time, he was able to transform the agency into a military-like operation, dramatically increasing its efficiency. Sanitation Workers, for a brief time, were lauded as heroes by a cynical public that, until then, did not believe that the city could ever really be cleaned.
Harper’s Weekly “Specimens of Colonel Waring’s Splendid Work in Street Cleaning, Before and After He Began, 1893-95,” June 22, 1895.
9/11 Cleanup
September 11th, 2001 was probably the most significant day in New York City history. What might not be so well known is the vital role that DSNY played in the recovery effort, not only on the days immediately following the attacks but in the weeks and months thereafter. DSNY’s recovery work was two-part: at Ground Zero, the Department was instrumental in quickly cleaning and hauling away a staggering 1.6 million tons of debris, leveraging their fleet of barges that had, until recently, been used to transport refuse to Fresh Kills Landfill.
About 400,000 tons of metal was salvaged and recycled. Over the next ten months, DSNY worked tirelessly to sift through 1.2 millions tons of debris, down to a quarter-inch sieve, in order to remove any human remains, personal effects, evidence, or artifacts. They were joined in this effort at Fresh Kills by the NYPD, FBI, and 25 other state and federal agencies and 14 private contractors. Over 1.7 million hours were spent working at the landfill, in an effort that was later described as “exhaustive and complete” by the NYPD, the FBI, and the Office of Emergency Management.
Natural Disasters
Nor-easters and blizzards might be the most common extreme weather that we see, but it was a hurricane that had the biggest impact in recent memory. In 2012 Superstorm Sandy caused an estimated $19 billion in damage. DSNY fully mobilized the morning after the storm, working around the clock for over a month to remove over 420,000 tons of storm debris. The Department also operated additional collection services for impacted communities, where food and supplies were being distributed and residents were gutting their flooded homes.
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, DSNY was eager to lend a hand, organizing a deployment to the island to assist the Puerto Rico Emergency Response Agency (PREMA). The DSNY team spent over three weeks in Puerto Rico, providing crucial damage assessments and assisting with supply distribution.
The people of Puerto Rico fondly nicknamed the DSNY team the “Yellow Shirts”, for their fluorescent high-visibility uniforms. It became known that where the Yellow Shirts went, supplies and services were soon to follow.
Coronavirus Pandemic
We now find ourselves in an unprecedented global pandemic, testing the city in new ways. As we have before, we will clean up, rebuild, and rebound and DSNY will be there, tirelessly working to keep New York City healthy, safe, and clean.
Residents, you can do your part, too. Listen to directions from the city and be sure to stay home as much as possible and practice social distancing. Continue to put out your garbage and recyclables at the regular times, being mindful not to dispose of any common hazards to keep our workers safe.
And show a little love to your Sanitation Workers! Join our movement by leaving a thank you note that your Sanitation Workers can see, thanking them from a safe distance, or tagging us on social media! #PickingUpNYC
