About 400 Volunteers Clean Up New York City's Streets: How to Join

While some complain that the streets of New York are mired in trash, others are taking the initiative into their own hands and organizing massive clean-ups. One of these initiatives, which brought together about 400 volunteers, told the publication New York Post.

Residents of New York, worried that the streets of the city were mired in garbage, decided to cope with this nuisance on their own by organizing joint cleanups.

For example, about 400 volunteers took to the streets to clear them of debris - from discarded grocery boxes to broken umbrellas. They thoroughly clean one of the city blocks twice a week.

The idea arose during the coronavirus pandemic, when used medical gloves and masks flooded the streets of the metropolis. Caring New Yorkers wanted to do something to make the world around them a little better. “Collecting trash is a relatively easy task for the average person to complete,” said Jake Russell, 30, co-founder of the OneBlockUWS organization behind the initiative.

He started collecting trash in mid-August. He spent about 76 minutes cleaning his own block - 15th Street between Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue. “Some passers-by asked me what I was doing and thanked me,” Russell recalls. "It was nice to know that I am doing my part of the job."

Russell then wrote about his initiative on Facebook and received a lot of positive feedback. As more like-minded people began to ask if they could join the initiative, he saw the potential in this movement. “I couldn't believe how many requests I got,” he says.

On the subject: The streets of New York are mired in garbage: a city activist alone cleans a metropolis

One of the inquiries came from Ann Cutbill Lenane, 57, who is a senior executive at Douglas Elliman real estate. She was already considering spearheading some kind of large-scale cleaning campaign when she heard about Russell's initiative. “The Department of Sanitation's budget has been cut several times,” Lenane said. "As a committed and motivated citizen, I saw the point in joining forces with Jake to form OneBlockUWS."

Since its inception on August 24, the OneBlockUWS organization has expanded significantly. Today it has about 400 active volunteer members. They clean parks and playgrounds of rubbish on weekends.

In addition to volunteer work, the organizers are planning to hire three paid cleaners in conjunction with the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (ACE).

One of the volunteer cleaners, 61-year-old Tarek Nakla, joined OneBlockUWS last week. He believes that clean streets directly affect the quality of life. “That's why it's important,” he said. "Especially in the difficult times we are going through today."

If you want too become volunteers and join the cleaning of New York streets, fill in this form.

Learn more about the initiative can be on the official page of the organizer in Facebook.