The juggling of local Sanitation truck schedules has Community Board 14 concerned.
Doris Ortiz, the board’s district manager, told members during the May meeting that the Department of Sanitation (DOS) plans to cut 14 collection trucks from the board’s catchment area.
This may mean, she added, service cuts that could impact residents “dramatically.” One possibility, Ortiz told those gathered in the cafeteria at Edward R. Murrow High School, 1600 Avenue L, is that the densely populated northern end of the board area could see a cut from three−times−a−week trash pickups to twice−a−week pickups. “That would not be a good thing,” Ortiz opined.
If trucks are cut in the northern part of the board area, Ortiz added, that could have an impact on the entire board, if trucks have to be shifted from the southern part of the board area to make up for it.
“We are going to ask them to reconsider,” Ortiz added.
However, Kathy Dawkins, a spokesperson for DOS, said there were no plans to cut the three−times−per−week pickup schedule in the northern part of the board area.
“This is not a change in frequency of service. No one’s losing frequency of garbage collection,” Dawkins contended.
Rather, she said, “We are trying to do an efficiency study. What we are doing is exploring efficiency gains to save money by saving trucks. The intention is to extend the routes, not to lessen the frequency of collection. People in the area are not even going to notice the difference.
