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There are no alley ways in NYC. That means you would have to line the sidewalks with tens of thousands of trash cans. Those trash cans would take up too much space and hinder sidewalk traffic. Garbage bags can be piled up together, take up less space, and can be easily and quickly thrown into the back of the garbage trucks.
There are no alley ways in NYC. That means you would have to line the sidewalks with tens of thousands of trash cans. Those trash cans would take up too much space and hinder sidewalk traffic. Garbage bags can be piled up together, take up less space, and can be easily and quickly thrown into the back of the garbage trucks.
It is hard to believe that the wall street in nyc can creat so many fancy investment vehicles to lure Americans money but not able to come up with some better ways to handle the garbage more elegantly.
It is hard to believe that the wall street in nyc can creat so many fancy investment vehicles to lure Americans money but not able to come up with some better ways to handle the garbage more elegantly.
The garbage collection system we have here works, eloquent or not. And as they say, if it ain't broke...
It is hard to believe that the wall street in nyc can creat so many fancy investment vehicles to lure Americans money but not able to come up with some better ways to handle the garbage more elegantly.
Who gives a **** about "elegant" garbage collection? That is the talk of tourists who probably found out too late that NYC ain't their kind of place. If you want to pay more in taxes to have men in tuxedos and white gloves picking up the trash, then you're welcome to make a donation to the department of sanitation and see where it gets you.
So what "elegant" means of garbage disposal would:
1) Not increase the costs of labor by having to hire extra people to account for the extra time emptying/replacing cans vs. tossing the bags in? Apartment buildings as well as commercial buildings would be affected by this too. One building I lived in (outer boroughs) has 200+ units. I'd dump my garbage down a chute in the garbage chute room, it would be compacted and the guys who worked there would put large dark bags of compacted garbage out on trash day. They'd collect the recyclables & bag them. It's out over night and then it's gone. If the guys had to bring in/wash down containers, they'd either have to pay overtime or hire more staff or other repairs/work would suffer. More staff=higher rent. The sight of garbage bags never bothered me enough to want to payer higher rent to avoid it or to see other repairs/work suffer
2) Not take up sidewalk space with empty cans in the time between garbage collection and people taking their cans in? Most of the streets I see in midtown are pretty clear by 8 am. I'd rather see a few garbage bags before 8 am than see a rush hour with a sidewalk full of people trying to avoid empty garbage cans. The sidewalks are congested enough as it is. We have to dodge enough people who just decide to stop suddenly, dead in their tracks for no reason. Or who decide for some reason, they have to walk glacially slow 4-6 across the !@#% sidewalk instead of lining up in pairs so other people can use the sidewalk.
2) Not take up valuable storage space when the cans weren't in use?
3) Not pose the security risk of garbage cans for hiding bombs in target areas (e.g. Times Square)?
Last edited by exscapegoat; 09-12-2012 at 08:42 PM..
So what "elegant" means of garbage disposal would:
1) Not increase the costs of labor by having to hire extra people to account for the extra time emptying/replacing cans vs. tossing the bags in? Apartment buildings as well as commercial buildings would be affected by this too. One building I lived in (outer boroughs) has 200+ units. I'd dump my garbage down a chute in the garbage chute room, it would be compacted and the guys who worked there would put large dark bags of compacted garbage out on trash day. They'd collect the recyclables & bag them. It's out over night and then it's gone. If the guys had to bring in/wash down containers, they'd either have to pay overtime or hire more staff or other repairs/work would suffer. More staff=higher rent. The sight of garbage bags never bothered me enough to want to payer higher rent to avoid it or to see other repairs/work suffer
2) Not take up sidewalk space with empty cans in the time between garbage collection and people taking their cans in? Most of the streets I see in midtown are pretty clear by 8 am. I'd rather see a few garbage bags before 8 am than see a rush hour with a sidewalk full of people trying to avoid empty garbage cans. The sidewalks are congested enough as it is. We have to dodge enough people who just decide to stop suddenly, dead in their tracks for no reason. Or who decide for some reason, they have to walk glacially slow 4-6 across the !@#% sidewalk instead of lining up in pairs so other people can use the sidewalk.
2) Not take up valuable storage space when the cans weren't in use?
3) Not pose the security risk of garbage cans for hiding bombs in target areas (e.g. Times Square)?
NYC requires rubbish both commercial and domestic to be placed on curbs in "rodent proof" and "sealed" containers. Some businesses like residential properties use containers (metal or heavy plastic cans), others use bin liners.
There are about four or so Starbucks in my area of the UES. The one at Madison Avenue and 96th Street places everything in sealed containers. The rest use bin liners. One suspects the building where the former is located has something to do with how it disposes of it's rubbish.
Many other businesses do use containers but the problem is that in an increasingly dense city with little free parking spaces, how can a truck get close enough to get at the things? Then there are complaints from residents about the banging, clanging and other noise cans/containers make as rubbish men empty.
Food Emporium near us used to place rubbish out in containers on East 83nd street. However being as the street was narrow and always packed with parked cars the carting company couldn't get to the things easily. Then again came the complaints about noise. Now the place puts rubbish out in bin liners in front of the store (Third Avenue) much to the delight if dumpster divers scrounging for food.
With bin liners a two person truck can handle collections for both domestic and commercial rubbish. The bags are flung into the truck from the curb and or moved from the curb to the street in advance of truck arriving. When done properly the system is quite efficient and fast.
Containers OTOH are slower because they must be hauled to the truck, emptied, then returned.
Carting companies purchase and or assign truck types based upon how rubbish will be collected. Bags and small containers can have rubbish emptied into them via workers. Larger containers/dumpsters require special trucks with lift systems to "dump" contents into truck. The dumpsters then must be returned to their proper place.
Any New Yorker of a certain age remembers the god awful noise on collection days (or nights) when metal cans were the norm. If you weren't awake then you soon would be an likely to remain so until the rubbish had been collected and truck left your street.
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