Who Shovels Your Snow, Manhattan Avenue?

A Few Good Men in Green Jumpsuits, That’s Who

The end of winter is almost always a momentous occasion. The days get longer, Brooklynites get happier, the air gets warmer, the sky gets brighter—but the streets certainly don’t get any cleaner. And when the last blasts of snow pummel the pavement of Greenpoint/Williamsburg only to promptly melt into piles upon piles of dirty slush, the situation can be worse than ever. But not this year, thanks to the Greenpoint Business Association and the New York Department of Small Business Services (SBS), who partnered up to sponsor the Clean Streets Program on the Manhattan Avenue corridor.

The Clean Streets Program started in 2008, as a way to provide business associations and BIDS (Business Industrial Districts) throughout the five boroughs with a street cleaning service designed to maintain and beautify main thoroughfares. Sponsored by the NYC SBS, the Clean Streets Program solicited applications from interested BIDS and associations, and selected five for its two-year pilot program—including Manhattan and Greenpoint Avenues.

“We kicked off Clean Streets two and a half years ago as a way to help commercial districts to become cleaner, and to build up local associations where there were none or one in place that wanted to grow,” said Paul Nelson, Executive Director of Commercial Revitalization Initiatives at the Department of Small Business Services. “It’s a great program, and it’s been a successful pilot. We hope these five corridors can continue this program for a third year, and that we can continue to show the success of the effort.”

The program includes five full-time street cleaners—provided by Wildcat Services—who sweep their respective corridor for eight hours a day, five days a week. The first year of the program, NYC SBS is able to fully subsidize the service, while the second year requires the BID or business association benefiting from the service to pitch in half of the funds necessary to sustain the program. In the case of the Manhattan Avenue corridor, that means local businesses, with the help of North Brooklyn Development Corporation and the Greenpoint Business Association, have contributed nearly $11,000 to the clean street cause.

“North Brooklyn Development Corporation was the conduit for bringing this to our community, but in the future we hope Clean Streets will be part of the Greenpoint Business Association budget,” said Jennifer Hilton, consulting coordinator for the Greenpoint Business Association. “In 2008, there were upwards of 657 incidents which make the Manhattan Avenue business corridor and Greenpoint Ave blighted and non-inviting for commerce. Those incidents included overflowing NYC trash receptacles at the corners, resulting in general blowing of trash across the corridor; graffiti, stickers and posters plastered on both private and public properties, creating general eye sores. In 2009, after just one year, over 47% of the original incidents were removed and there were only 116 new incidences recorded.”

Local businesses aren’t the only ones benefitting from the Clean Streets Program: The street sweepers themselves, contracted out by Wildcat Services, are enthusiastic about participating.

Wildcat is a non-profit organization focused on workforce development. Wildcat participants generally enroll in workshops to gain experience and learn how to maintain employment, and are subsequently contracted out to a variety of jobs—one of which is the Clean Streets Program.

“In the interest in the Greenpoint corridor, the Wildcat street cleaners are performing supplemental services like snow and waste removal,” said Wildcat Chief Administrative Officer Adam Barshak. “It’s a means to an end. It provides them with basic professional skills that perhaps most people have and take for granted, like showing up for work on time, working with their peers and taking directions from their supervisor.”

Wildcat—and specifically Clean Streets—has proven to be incredibly successful.

“I started in the Clean Streets program at the beginning, in 2008, and have been working on Manhattan Avenue for two years,” said Compton Gibson, a Wildcat supervisor. “There’s a big difference from when we first came here. It’s changed since we’ve been here. We shovel the walkways so folks can walk, and we work closely with the merchants to make sure we have a good relationship with the neighborhood. Wildcat is very, very important here.”

Apart from the Clean Streets Program, the GBA is spearheading an initiative designed to make it as easy as possible for participating Greepoint businesses to take advantage of the Graffiti Free program, a city-sponsored no-cost graffiti removal program.

For more information about the GBA, contact Jennifer Hilton at 718-389-9044 ext 15.

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