LOCAL NEWS
Pair of
women
killed in
collisions
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A woman died of her
injuries after she was
hit by a driver on an
Upper East Side street early
Monday morning.
According to police, at 6:37
a.m. on Jan. 24 the NYPD responded
to a 911 call regarding
a pedestrian struck at the
intersection of 3rd Avenue
and East 76th Street. Upon
their arrival, offi cers found
a 51-year-old woman unconscious
and unresponsive with
trauma to her head and body.
EMS rushed the victim to
Lenox Hill Hospital where she
was later pronounced dead.
Her identity is being withheld
pending family notifi cation.
A preliminary investigation
found that a 59-year-old
woman was driving an Audi
sedan on East 76th Street and
when she went to turn right
onto 3rd Avenue, she hit the
victim. The driver remained at
the scene and was not injured.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated
incident, police in the 24th
Precinct responded to a 911
call regarding a pedestrian
struck at the intersection of
West 93rd Street and Amsterdam
Avenue in the Upper
West Side. Upon their arrival,
offi cers found a 43-year-old
woman unconscious and unresponsive
with trauma to her
head and body.
Paramedics rushed the
victim, whose identity is
also being withheld pending
family notifi cation, to St.
Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital
Center where she was later
pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation
found that a 45-year-old man
was driving a white Nissan
van on Amsterdam Avenue
when he made a left turn
onto West 93rd Street when
he hit the victim. The driver
remained on scene and was
not injured.
No arrests were made in
either incident and the investigations
remain ongoing.
Piles of trash on the West Side.
Take out the trash!
Bottcher, West Side pols implore DSNY for cleaner streets
BY DEAN MOSES
Elected offi cials on Manhattan’s
West Side are
telling DSNY it’s time
to clean up their act—the city
may have reopened but lax
sanitation efforts are putting a
stink on tourism.
Since the start of the COVID
19 pandemic, many cityrun
programs halted or were
scaled back due to protocol
safety measures and staffi ng
shortages—and into the fall of
2021 some workers refused to
be vaccinated despite the mandates.
Although Mayor Eric Adams
recently fl ipped the switch
on encouraging tourism back
into New York City through
the Winter Outing Program,
some elected offi cials fear that
sanitation conditions will deter
tourists from visiting the district.
Councilmember Erik Bottcher,
along with several of his colleagues,
has received numerous
complaints from constituents
that areas in the Village, Chelsea,
and Hell’s Kitchen are
becoming hovels of mounting
trash bags, overfl owing corner
garbage baskets, and litter
across the street and sidewalks.
“The overfl owing wastebaskets
are most problematic in
areas with high pedestrian traffi
c, and especially on the weekends,”
Bottcher said. “Sanitation
issues have always been an
issue, but they became worse
during the pandemic when
services were cut. Services still
haven’t been fully restored to
pre-pandemic levels.”
In hopes of starting New
York City off on the right foot
this year, entice visitors to these
areas in District 3, and to clean
up the area for those who pass
by the streets on a daily basis,
elected offi cials have penned
a letter to Mayor Eric Adams
and DSNY Commissioner
Edward Grayson imploring
for disposal services to be restored
in these high pedestrian
traffi c areas. In the letter they
request that DSNY resume
two weekly street cleanings,
as well as frequent curbside
composting service.
According to Bottcher, sanitation
had 736 trucks routed on
average to service Manhattan,
yet that number dropped during
the height of the pandemic
to just 272 due to funding cuts
in 2020; however, as the city
edges toward regaining normalcy,
there are only 440 trash
pickup routes currently working
in Manhattan.
Bottcher also shared that
all of the trash—coupled with
poorly constructed outside
dining sheds—has harbored a
well-fed rat infestation, causing
those who want to dine
outside in these areas to lose
their appetite.
“If New York City is going
to recover economically from
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
the COVID-19 crisis, we need
to put our best foot forward
to the world, and that includes
having clean streets. Visitors,
offi ce workers and residents
won’t want to be here if the
city is fi lthy. It’s imperative
that we get a handle on this,”
Bottcher said.
In response to the letter, a
DSNY representative had this
to say: “The Department of
Sanitation is proud of our work
removing 12,000 tons of trash
and recycling every day to keep
our city safe and clean, including
during the worst days of the
pandemic. We see New York
City residents and elected offi -
cials as partners in this work,
and we welcome their collaboration,
input and advocacy as
we continue to fulfi ll our mission.
We are working with the
Mayor’s Offi ce to evaluate Sanitation
programs and improve
quality of life for all New York
city neighborhoods.”
Schneps Media January 27, 2022 3