A rural road in Minnesota vs. W. 73rd St? You're thinking right. No room and too much garbage for it to work. You were kidding right?
1
Rats: New Your City's most prolific garbage recyclers.
4
I live along a rural road in Minnesota. The garbage and recycling trucks here have robotic arms that reach out to pick up both the refuse and recycling cans. There is only one person who operates the truck. Saves the operator from exiting the truck at each stop and also is a boon for them in bad weather. I'm thinking there must not be room on the streets of NYC for such vehicles.
4
When I lived in Manhattan in the late 60's, there was a fire station just up the street. It was a frequent occurrence to see a sanitation truck speeding down second avenue with the workers on the side of the truck yelling get out of the way because their load of trash was on fire. Then all buildings had an incinerator and the building guys frequently put out trash which had a lot of burning embers. The firemen were all Irish and the sanitation guys all Italian. The Irishmen told the Italians - now clean up that mess.
4
We don't have cans here. Some buildings would need 30 cans which would take up the entire sidewalk. Garbage bags pile better. Plus the "robotic arm" would have to reach up and over cars parked on the curb.
3
I remember the trash cans being put out on the sidewalk...stinking to high heaven. Fortunately no rats. At least none that we could see. The garbage trucks and the men in the coveralls operating them always stunk. I didn't know if anyone was Irish or Italian. Me and the Puerto Rican kids played together. The trash cans, the garbage trucks and the men with their odors affected all of us. Still, I don't remember anyone complains. Summer heat could really things worse.
The South Bronx was never a paradise.
In upstate New York we took our trash and garbage out to fire barrels in our back yards. Once a month a truck took away the ashes. Walking out to the barrels in the bitter cold of winter was not pleasant.
A cat jumped out of a barrel one night and scared me to death. He was keeping warm on the ashes.
The South Bronx was never a paradise.
In upstate New York we took our trash and garbage out to fire barrels in our back yards. Once a month a truck took away the ashes. Walking out to the barrels in the bitter cold of winter was not pleasant.
A cat jumped out of a barrel one night and scared me to death. He was keeping warm on the ashes.
2
There once was a sanitation worker named Buck
Who tossed all the trash in his truck
A black rat on his shoulder
Overruled the complainer, he told her
And back to her car outta luck
Who tossed all the trash in his truck
A black rat on his shoulder
Overruled the complainer, he told her
And back to her car outta luck
12
NYC sanitation workers endure many more injuries than members of the FDNY and the NYPD.
8
Plight? They make 6 figures. Even junior guys. Still not something I want to deal with myself - and that's exactly why they're smiling all the way to the bank - rats in tow
1
Starting salary: $33,746. After 6 months, $36,607. After 5 1/2 years, $69,339. Rotating shifts, mandatory overtime, Saturdays, Sundays, in all weather. If someone's making "six figures," they've earned every nickel.
21
Not to mention snow removal--working in weather you wouldn't want to be out in.
4
That's the same starting salary as teachers in California. And, it takes 120 more college units, and 25 years experience to get to $69,000. I don't think they have it too bad.
Look before you leap! If you see a garbage truck on a street, don't turn onto the street. Thought that was already a NYC rule....like tuck in your side view mirrors when parking, walk on the right (not left) side of the sidewalk, assume there is dog poop on the sidewalk, and don't stop at the top of the subway steps to check your cell phone.
29
They are heroes of NYC streets - from the dog poop to the rats to the stench of rotting "everything", they can't be paid enough. Let impatient drivers spend one day on the job with them and they'll never honk or yell again........
28
Which rat was bigger, the one that ran up the sanitation workers arm or the one driving the car in heels? hahahahaha
I always acknowledge the sanitation worker here in CT, wait patiently for them to back and forth across the street, smile. These men are doing something that most people won't do.
Let's be grateful!
I always acknowledge the sanitation worker here in CT, wait patiently for them to back and forth across the street, smile. These men are doing something that most people won't do.
Let's be grateful!
27
What causes a guess that the car was in heels? Your gratefulness is appropriate. One cannot imagine yelling at a well-paid gentleman, bona fide public servant happy-in-life. Maybe if my car were in heels.
2
I remember when I took the school bus in elementary school. It was very exciting to us kids on the bus if we were to get stuck behind a sanitation truck in the morning. It was the only excused lateness we were allowed.
14
There are way too many self important twits living in this city who think they are far more superior than the lowly sanitation worker or the bus driver or the maintenance person. These folks are looked down upon by the snobs who think they are better than everyone else and should never be inconvenienced.
I have more respect for a sanitation worker or an MTA worker than I do for the pompous dope in a suit. Blue collar workers run this city. Think what life would be like without them.
I have more respect for a sanitation worker or an MTA worker than I do for the pompous dope in a suit. Blue collar workers run this city. Think what life would be like without them.
48
Sanitation workers pick up bags that dogs pee on. They pick up bags that may contain dangerous substances. I think a few years ago there was a case where a bag contained acid and it opened.
24
There are soooo many jobs where so many of us take for granted that our concerns are also the concerns of the person on the other side of the line: the gas station attendant who breathes in gas fumes all day, the server working with our table, the retail clerk trying to help with a purchase, or the janitor who takes care of our messes when we're too important to do it ourselves. This lady is the perfect example of that skewed sense of self worth.
50
@Susan - I left the GYM yesterday morning around 1:30AM and headed to a 24 hour Walgreens here in CT. There was an issue with a coupon that should have been applied with my purchase; the cashier called for assistance and a co-worker offered to investigate.
I started to think about these staff who were working these late hours - the overnight shift and wonder more about them. It was not a bad experience for me.
Hopefully I can carry this encounter with me and be more aware of my fellow Americans who are working to earn a living in various ways at all hours of the day.
While I was going home at 1:30AM after the luxury of working out at the GYM, these guys were still at work.
I started to think about these staff who were working these late hours - the overnight shift and wonder more about them. It was not a bad experience for me.
Hopefully I can carry this encounter with me and be more aware of my fellow Americans who are working to earn a living in various ways at all hours of the day.
While I was going home at 1:30AM after the luxury of working out at the GYM, these guys were still at work.
25
For an eye-opening look at sanitation workers' daily lives, read "Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City" by Robin Nagle. She is the Sanitation Department's anthropologist-in-residence and worked as a sanitation worker for some time, as well as interviewing many workers, as part of her research for the book.
38
I am eternally surprised by New Yorkers' lack of savvy about the Big Apple Rats.
When u turn on your smart phone look up 'rats'. maybe your local politician holds a 'rat academy' & make sure u attend it. Forget about 'don't feed the squirrels' rather focus on don't support a rat magnet lifestyle. Just remember we folks are just passing thru the 5 boros while the rats are the true inhabitants.
When u turn on your smart phone look up 'rats'. maybe your local politician holds a 'rat academy' & make sure u attend it. Forget about 'don't feed the squirrels' rather focus on don't support a rat magnet lifestyle. Just remember we folks are just passing thru the 5 boros while the rats are the true inhabitants.
16
Yup, many of the rats lost their fear of humans long ago; the humans are following suit.
An uneasy coexistence.
An uneasy coexistence.
16
Best New York story I've ever heard.
14
In fact, yesterday I was in such a line of cars on a narrow Brooklyn street, possibly for a good 15-20 minutes (there was a lot of garbage to be picked up), and I thought to myself how quietly all of the cars were waiting -- not a honk heard.
And thank goodness. Our sanitation men are the good guys in this city, with strong backs and strong noses. When they can pull over, they do.
And thank goodness. Our sanitation men are the good guys in this city, with strong backs and strong noses. When they can pull over, they do.
64
Whenever I pass a garbage truck and I see the men riding on the back, jumping off, running to the curb, picking up the cans, emptying them into the truck and bringing them back to the curb I think "they don't pay them nearly enough to do that job".
52
Those are not mere mortal men, they are demigods.