Town hall meeting Thursday at the Museum of Moving Image
April 7, 2014 By Michael Florio
Don’t expect any more trash cans in Astoria—at least anytime soon.
Iggy Terranova, the community affairs officers from the Department of Sanitation, told residents at a town hall meeting Thursday that the neighborhood has more than enough cans. He said that Astoria’s litter problem is the result of resident’s illegally dumping their household trash in them.
“If residents didn’t abuse the corner baskets…they would be sufficient,” Terranova said.
Terranova said that there were enough trash cans throughout the commercial district and, therefore, rejected one woman’s call for a trash can to be added at the intersection of Steinway Street and 25th Avenue.
Meanwhile, another resident asked Terranova for garbage cans on 28th Ave, which currently has none.
Terranova shot down her request. “We only put garbage cans on commercial streets,” he said.
Residents in attendance were not satisfied with Terranova’s answers—particularly his claims that the trash cans were abused. However, he said he had witnessed many residents—as with business owners–use the corner baskets to dump their household/store trash.
He said that the Dept. of Sanitation has ticketed some offenders but there’s only so much that the department could do.
Terranova, who happens to be an Astoria resident, said he would gladly walk around the neighborhood and point out to people how the garbage cans are being abused.
Councilman Costa Constantinides, after the meeting, said he plans to speak with the Dept. of Sanitation to get more cans added.
Constantinides has recently introduced a bill that would require daily trash can pick-ups, which has 12 co-sponsors and is being heard in the council’s sanitation committee. Currently, the trash is picked up six days a week in Astoria.
Constantinides is trying to combat Astoria’s trash problem on several fronts. A number of workers from The Doe Fund are now sweeping the streets throughout the district. They started on April 1.
