The city hauled off a rogue dumpster that locals complained about for a year, after an article appeared in this paper.
Officials towed the reviled receptacle from 79th Street on Sept. 30 — just days after neighbors sounded off to this paper about the long-abused garbage bin. Dozens of block residents feared it was harboring rats or asbestos, because area grocery stores and contractors used the bin as a personal dump, so they were elated it went, one said.
“I was ecstatic. I was screaming, ‘The dumpster is gone,’ ” said Maria Vigorito, who lives two doors down. “You couldn’t have timed it better. My neighbor came out to show me the article, and then I turned and saw the dumpster was being removed. It’s such a relief.”
Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) got the Department of Transportation to take out the trash after this paper made inquiries with the lawmaker and the municipal agency, according to a spokesman.
The container sat legally on the street between 13th and 14th avenues since October 2015, and the transportation department continued to renew its permits three months at a time — despite complaints made to 311 and the local community board and despite the city putting a stop-work order on the property in April. City officials rejected the contractor’s last attempt to renew the dumpster permit, records show, but locals couldn’t get anyone to take the thing away.
And now that it’s gone, there’s a catch — transportation department officials told neighbors that another waste bin will rise in its place — for a day or two — so workers can remove leftover debris from the construction site. Locals are cautiously optimistic, one said.
“We were told to expect another dumpster, so we’ll see what happens,” said Mary Spelmen, who filed a petition with Community Board 10 demanding the city remove the last one. “But it’s gone now, so thanks so much to the paper for adding to the pressure and helping get this off our block.”
