Council Member Robert Holden has welcomed action by Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa and acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan to address garbage pile-ups in Juniper Valley Park last week.
Holden had previously expressed outrage in a post on social media after large piles of garbage bags were pictured in the park last Friday, July 11.
Holden alleged that the Parks Department was using Juniper Valley Park as a “staging ground” for garbage bags from parks around the city after the department’s garbage truck broke down. He also described the incident as unacceptable.
“The Parks Department garbage truck is out of service, so they’re using Juniper Valley Park as a staging ground for garbage from all our parks. That’s unacceptable,” Holden wrote in a post on Facebook.
Holden further alleged that the large pile-up had attracted rats to the park.
“No park should be used to store trash—and now there are rats,” he added, calling on the Parks Department to immediately rectify the issue.
In a follow-up post, Holden praised both the Parks Department and Department of Sanitation for taking swift action to rectify the issue.
He said both Rodriguez-Rosa and Lojan visited Juniper Valley Park on Friday evening to address the issue, adding that the issue has now been rectified.
“Thank you to Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa and Javier Lojan for your swift action and response,” Holden stated.
Holden later told QNS in a statement that similar incidents should “never happen again,” but praised Rodriguez-Rosa and Lojan for stepping in so quickly.
I want to thank the Parks Commissioner and Acting DSNY Commissioner for quickly stepping in to resolve the issue,” Holden said in a statement. “A decision like that should never happen again because quality of life matters and I will keep fighting to protect it.”
QNS approached the Parks and Sanitation Departments for comment and is waiting for a response.
