24 SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Councilman allocates funds to clean up neighborhoods
that have been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst,
and Jackson Height were ravaged this spring
during the COVID-19 pandemic with a disproportionate
death rate, extreme unemployment, and
hunger. Now, they’re dealing with trash piled high
on the streets as a result of the city’s budget cuts.
Aft er the Department of Sanitation was forced
to slash more than $100 million, Councilman Francisco
Moya has allocated $160,000 to deal with the
latest health crisis in his neighborhoods.
“The conditions of our streets is simply unacceptable
right now,” Moya said. “Our community
is still grappling with the devastating aft ermath
of being the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in
the United States and the last this they should have
to deal with is garbage piling up on every corner
on top of it.”
Moya secured $80,000 to the Department of
Sanitation (DSNY) and $80,000 to ACE programs
for the Homeless, a non-profi t organization that
provides homeless New Yorkers job training, work
experience, and a support network to help them
reach fi nancial independence.
The new DSNY funding will be used to add eight
hours of additional litter basket service along 16
routes in the district on Sundays and three hours
of overtime litter basket pickups along fi ve routes
Tuesday through Thursday. The additional service
will last 36 weeks until June 2021, with an 8-week
Piles of trash are creating a new health problem in Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights in
the aftermath of COVID-19. Courtesy of Moya’s offi ce
service break during winter. ACE will continue
to focus on Corona Plaza and work with Moya to
identify areas that require additional attention.
“I’m proud to allocate these funds to clean up
our community and provide residents with the
quality-of-life conditions they deserve,” Moya
added. “Thank you to DSNY and ACE programs for
the Homeless for all their hard work in building a
safer and cleaner community.”
The Cleanup Initiative funding follows Moya’s
Park Cleanup Day on Aug. 15 with the NYC Parks
Department, DSNY and the Corona-East Elmhurst
Civic Association. Together with dozens of community
volunteers, they picked up trash around
Flushing Meadows Corona Park and repainted
damaged benches.
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