This is a step in the right direction but the problem goes much deeper. Firstly, some of these people (if we can call them that) basically have no manners. If they’re leaving trash on the sidewalk, their homes much look a lot worse. Most of the offenders are young kids followed by the homeless breaking open garbage bags looking for cans and bottle to make some cash from.

Then, you have your housing project residents and their kids who have obviously grown up with very little self discipline. These constitute the majority of the offenders. The public housing is dotted in Bed Stuy all the way up to Myrtle Ave and all streets from Fulton via Nosstrand experience the heaviest amount of foot traffic and the largest amounts of trash.

Plastic bag and garbage cans won’t help. These people don’t care, not about themselves, not about their neighborhood or their neighbors. There is very little that can be done other than massive anti litter enforcement efforts by the NYPD. A court appearance and a good solid fine would do wonders for those with little regard for where they live. Once the word spreads and they realize that substantial penalties may be accrued from their disrespectful activities will their attitudes change.

We all realize the problem yet are hoping our elected “leaders” will do “something.” Let’s have a little bit of reality check here for a minute. I know the cries of “racism” and “police brutality” will begin to surface if these efforts begin to materialize. And that’s unfortunate and possibly the reason why our elected leaders know what to do but refuse because it will be something the media will convince us is unpopular. So drown in filth we shall remain.

Now, let’s put 2 & 2 together for a minute. A lot of the crime and drugs were diminished when we began to see cops walking the beat in Bed Stuy. We can see and end to litter if we stand behind the police to enforce their quality of life mandate and not protest against them for doing so.

The movement to clean the neighborhood has to start at the grassroots. The plan should allow the NYPD to summons anyone caught throwing litter on the sidewalk. A massive PR blitz by the residents and land owners warning everyone what is about to occur would prep people not to over react when the enviable clashes with the police begin. Do we have the will to ignite this? I doubt it.

The above is the only realistic solution in my eyes. Other than that, hiring 24 hour street sweepers would also do the trick

If you address this with our elected officials, let me know. You can add my name to the effort.

C’mon folks we can make a difference! Changeling, you do so much already, but do you have any suggestions?

@Kevin: Human poop? (sigh) I know that there are homeless people and addicts who have to go and sometimes they don’t have a bathroom available, but this is Bed-Stuy, so there are plenty of abandoned houses, abandoned lots and areas where you can hide while you relieve yourself. There’s no reason that you should have to see human feces.

And I hadn’t thought about mailboxes, but you’re right. There really aren’t a lot of them in the area. Is there a place on the USPS website to request more?

@Morgan & JLegs: I wish they could somehow fine the people who do the littering. I’m sure that would cost the city too much to implement.

I keep revisiting the trash issue because I know that the way your environment looks has an effect on your behavior. If you live in a place that looks like a Godforsaken hell hole, then this can only feed your feelings of hopelessness. I’ve seen those block association signs around the neighborhood that tell people to take care of their neighborhood and not to litter, but I’d rather see the behavior–see people taking care of the neighborhood, see people putting trash in the litterbasket. Again, this is not a problem in all parts of the neighborhood, but it’s definitely a problem in the north stuy.

I live on Lafayette near Bedford and am constantly disgusted by the trash and general filth on the block. My supor also monitors some surrounding buildings and he’s always outside sweeping and making sure our trash is at least in the cans, but its not a job for one person. Plus, I see a good amount of rats scurrying around after dark and I’m sure this has a great deal to do with it. I also can kind of see the sanitation man’s point- I see people dumping TVs and stuff into the trashcan on the corner of Lafayette and Bedford (not to mention bags of household trash, one time I actually saw a child’s mattress leaning up against it!) If people don’t take pride in their block they won’t clean up, no matter how many trash cans there are.