New York Governor Andrew Cuomo offered to send the national guard to help pick up the trash which has reportedly been piling up in New York City.
“Garbage piling up, literally, people saying there is an odiferous environment because of the garbage piling up,” Cuomo said during a Tuesday press conference. “I don’t know what’s going on in New York City. If they can’t do it, I have offered to send in the National Guard to come help pick up the garbage.” (RELATED: Cuomo Sends SWAT Team To College Because Of COVID)
NEW: @NYGovCuomo says he has offered @NYCMayor to bring in the National Guard to assist with trash pickup. City budget cuts have left trash pickup lacking in many neighborhoods. pic.twitter.com/ZTElB98oVE
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) September 29, 2020
Cuomo’s office has reportedly received an increasing number of complaints about garbage after $25 million was cut from the Sanitation Department in July due to the coronavirus pandemic. The budget cuts resulted in a 60% reduction in trash pickups – public garbage cans went from being emptied every day to only being emptied 3 times per week, according to a Fox 5 News report.
“The state can bring in trucks, personnel and clean up the city,” Cuomo said, according to Fox 5. “I think that would be important. This is a public health pandemic. Cleanliness matters.”
“If the New York City Department of Sanitation and resources can’t do it for one reason or another, I can deploy the National Guard, we’ll come in,” the governor added, Fox 5 reported. “I understand there is a higher level because people are staying at home but in this environment, we don’t need people complaining about cleanliness of the city.”
“The Sanitation Department doesn’t have the resources that it once did,” Former New York City Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said last month, according to the report.
“We are trying to leverage whatever we can to make sure we are keeping the city as clean as we can,” Garcia added.