Mountains of garbage crawling with rats have overtaken streets surrounding Gracie Mansion, leaving nearby residents furious as the mayor’s immediate block appears meticulously cleared, according to a report by the New York Post.
In the Upper East Side neighborhood surrounding the mayor’s residence, locals say they are navigating filthy sidewalks lined with trash bags, scurrying rodents, and snowbanks soaked with dog urine more than a week after Winter Storm Fern. Meanwhile, the stretch outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home on East 88th Street has been cleared with what residents described as extraordinary care.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw yesterday — a whole army of sanitation workers plowing and shoveling every bit of snow off of that side of the street,” resident Nick Rivers told The Post on Sunday as he walked his black Labrador past garbage-strewn sidewalks near the mayor’s residence.
“Clean as a whistle for the mayor,” Rivers said. “Look at this side.”
The contrast, he said, could not be sharper. Nearby blocks are dominated by towering piles of trash reaching as high as six feet, which residents say have been sitting for days and drawing rats. The scene unfolded even as Mamdani publicly praised the city’s response late last week, asserting that things were under control despite residents struggling through frigid conditions.
On surrounding streets, some of the debris mounds are even worse, with trash stacks reportedly climbing to nearly eight feet.
“I’m new to the job,” the mayor said Friday. “I know the burdens will get heavier, but right now I struggle to imagine how it could be better.”
Residents say he need only step outside his immediate surroundings to see otherwise.
“Don’t get me started. I think his wife must have complained about the pee in the snow,” said Attel, who lives on West 88th Street. “I don’t even look when I come out of the building.
“It’s gross!” he added. “The rats are inside the recycling bags.”
Another neighbor described similar conditions, saying, “My street is lined with bags, many of them opened with crap all over the street.
“My daughter had to dodge a used sanitary pad.”
The spotless conditions outside Gracie Mansion stand in stark contrast not only to nearby blocks but to other areas of the city, where uncollected trash and rodent-infested snowbanks have become commonplace in the aftermath of the storm.
In a statement issued Sunday, a spokesperson for the city’s Sanitation Department said that clearing snow and ice from sidewalks is the responsibility of property owners, not the city, though garbage collection remains a municipal duty.
The spokesperson added that roughly 2,500 sanitation workers are currently working 12-hour shifts to clear bus stops, crosswalks, and fire hydrants, which has pushed garbage collection a day behind schedule.
“We are prioritizing trash and composting — stuff gets gross — over recyclables,” the statement said. “But we are picking up all streams, all across the city, just on slight delay.
“Most New Yorkers will recall that this is standard practice during and after winter weather events.”
A representative from the city parks department echoed similar remarks, saying crews are focused first on bus stops, crosswalks, wheelchair ramps, and fire hydrants.
“Once that has been addressed we will be able to resume our standard maintenance schedule.”
Those explanations offered little comfort to residents living amid the mess.
“It’s the most vile thing,” said Josh Tepper, a lifelong New Yorker who overlooks Gracie Mansion from his apartment.
“I think it’s the worst in New York history.
“His one strip is nice, but where all the ‘civilians’ live, it’s a complete disaster,” Tepper said of Mamdani. “The socialist king gets to have a clean driveway. It just makes me enraged.”
Others echoed the frustration.
“It’s very dirty,” said Upper East Side resident Frederick Radie. “Actually, we have people visiting, and it’s a little embarrassing.”
Chris Kendal, another local resident, described the situation as “very concerning.”
“They usually pick the recycle up on a Monday … so it’s almost been a week,” Kendal said over the weekend.
“I don’t know why they can’t pick it up. I mean, buses are still running, and the city is still operating. So I’m not sure why they’re not able to reduce some of the garbage on the streets.”
Similar scenes were reported elsewhere in the city. In The Bronx, trash was piled along the Grand Concourse just a block from where Mamdani held a public event yesterday.
“Every time it snows, it gets worse,” a nearby resident said. “Right now, the people in the neighborhood they cleaned up as much as we could, but the city hasn’t really being doing much.
“Like down the block by the courthouse, they clean that up,” the resident added. “The garbage attracts more rats, and it makes the neighborhood look bad.”
{Matzav.com}
