Overflowing Trash on Hoyt Street "Hurts Community"

Margaret Cusack, donning a pair of protective plastic gloves, is intrepidly sifting through the assorted trash crammed into a litter bin on the corner of Dean and Hoyt streets.

“You can see the problem here – this is not just litter," she said.

Cusack says the neighborhood is experiencing a growing problem with overflowing trash receptacles, a problem created when residents refuse to place household waste in regular trash pick-up bins, and pile bags of assorted trash into the mesh public litter baskets instead.

“It has just become endemic," said Cusack with a sigh. "This kind of thing hurts the community.”

According to the Department of Sanitation this "is a problem citywide."

The Hoyt Street resident worries the piles of trash will encourage pests, disease and further grime if left unattended. Unfortunately appealing to her neighbors has had little effect so far, and the Department seems at a loss as to how to curb the problem.

When asked about missing receptacles at the Atlantic Avenue and Hoyt Street intersection, where one bin stands where there used to be four, the Department acknowledges periodical reports of missing bins at the intersection, saying "the location was monitored, but to no avail" in the past.

Cusack is no stranger to taking on neighborhood causes – in fact she's something of a crusader on the stretch of Hoyt Street from Schermerhorn to Warren streets.

She has been helping to beautify the streets and foster community in the area since first moving to Boerum Hill in 1973, and has periodically served as president of the Hoyt Street Association since then.

“When I first came here Smith Street had a hardware store, a deli and little else,” remembered Cusack.

“It was a rough neighborhood at the time. But we made it a community.”

Before Boerum Hill was home to hipsters and young families, she said, neighbors would meet on the 11th day of each month to discuss matters of safety, sanitation and other community affairs.

On Saturdays following block meetings, neighbors gathered for sweep-ins, cleaning up the neighborhood, gathering piles of garbage and creating order in the notoriously under-served area.

While police and firetrucks were always slow to respond, neighbors took care of one another, lending tools, cooking supplies, or even a working shower to neighbors when city pipes failed and no repairman showed.

Cusack is quick to share the credit for keeping things clean and safe in modern-day Boeurm Hill.

“People take initiative in this neighborhood,” she remarked proudly. “When we see an issue – we tackle it.”

She admits that this is why she is so determined to address the misplaced trash on the streets she and neighbors have worked tirelessly to keep clean.

A neighbor who preferred to remain nameless acknowledged that putting garbage in the right place seems to be a problem in the area – he often finds bags of waste left on top of his buildings trash bins, even though they are left inside the gate, he said.

The street corner bins read “LITTER ONLY” and warn of a $100 fine for anyone disposing of household or business trash. Cusack was told authorities would inspect trash for bills and addresses in order to issue fines through the mail. The Department of Sanitation however states that litterers "must be caught in the act by one of our Supervisors or Enforcement Agents" - making the importance of neighbor-to-neighbor appeal all the more necessary.

Cusack says the consequences – namely the bins that are overflowing with bags of household trash - are also a problem because of how infrequently they are picked up.

On the corner of Dean and Hoyt streets, it will be three full days before the city comes to collect the trash again.