My ongoing journey to get the city to replace a litter basket

As I was making my map on NYC's litter basket landscape I naturally checked up on my census tract to see the statistics I calculated made intuitive sense to me, as it's often hard to get a sense of the scale of the city while you live in it, especially in the sleepier parts of town like where I am in Bushwick. However, I was surprised to find that 1 of the 3 litter baskets in my census tract of 3800 people did not exist. I wish it had to, it was a great location along my dog walking route. So I thought I'd submit a 311 request about it.

Unfortunately I didn't save my request's text, but in it I cited the city's data set that I used, I may have mentioned I was just doing some map analysis when I came across the issue, and I also noted that another of my tract's 3 litter baskets is incorrectly mapped as being on the wrong side of an intersection. The city data set has helpful IDs for the litter baskets, so I was even able to give them the name of the missing basket.

After 3 business days this was the reply I received:

DSNY provided the following information:

The location does not meet the criteria for Litter Basket placement.

I'm just now trying this civic engagement thing after 20 years of being an outside fan^[1], but this some incoherent nonsense. What? I specifically didn't fill out the "New litter basket" request form. I...just want the litter basket that they told me would be there to be there. So I'm in trying another time.

My second 311 request

Here is the full text of my second request via the NYC 311 service for a replacement litter basket:

Sorry I missed the window on the survey for my previous request, ID 311-21871104. But I am very confused by the response, "The location does not meet the criteria for Litter Basket placement." and I would appreciate further explanation about why this is the case.

In my original request I cited that the litter basket near the west corner of Evergreen Ave and Schaefer St, which is listed in the DSNY's Litter Basket Inventory data set as basket ID 30430110 (see https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/d6m8-cwh9), does not exist there. I live here, and I know no litter basket is there, although it is needed as there are no litter baskets on Evergreen for 10 blocks between Jefferson and Chauncey.

I am just telling the city that the litter basket that they report at that location is not there. I think it is an incoherent response to say that the location I am reporting is ineligible for a litter basket with no further explanation. What criteria does it not meet? Where could the litter basket that ought to be there go instead?

This census tract, 3040100, has 2 litter baskets, 3800 residents, and a litter problem. So if basket 30430110 cannot go where the city's data says it exists today, I would like to know where I can request another basket so that the residents on Evergreen Avenue can toss their litter responsibly.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I just want to make it a little bit easier for my neighborhood to do the right thing with respect to litter.

I just submitted this request, so I'll have to keep anyone reading along updated on what comes of this latest, more strongly-worded request.

The city's policy on new litter baskets

Is apparently hidden within a collapsible element on the 311 litter basket page. Under a section titled "New or Replacement" that is collapsed by default, they state:

Litter baskets are placed at commercial street corners along standard collection routes. You can suggest a location for the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to put a new or replacement public litter basket.

The suggested location must be within a commercial or mixed-use (both commercial and residential) zone. DSNY does not accept requests for litter baskets in a residential area.

Your suggestion should explain why a new or replacement litter basket is needed at the location.

TODO: I don't know if my census tract is officially a "commercial" or "mixed-use" zone, as far as the city's naive definitions go.

I can sympathize with the city's hypothesis that residential areas might not need corner litter baskets. There seems to be some intuitive sense to it, if you believe that residents will have their trash cans at home to handle their litter with.

Too bad it's wrong.

Litter happens where people are on the street, whether they're residents or not, and whether the area is "residential" or "commercial". If the area has a lot of people who spend a lot of time on the street traversing or staying put, and there aren't publicly accessible litter baskets, litter will be a problem.

It's the same bad logic as public restrooms. New York City needs to grow up and recognize that litter and human waste happen on the streets in residential areas as much as in commercial ones. Amsterdam knows this, which is why they have (shockingly minimalist) public urinals in "residential" areas of the city. All areas of New York City are mixed-use and in-transit, whether it's rushed delivery drivers, idling contractors, bus drivers on their lunch break, or residents playing dominoes at street level. People are in residential areas away from their home trash cans, and the city is costing themselves and its residents time and money by not acknowledging that fact.

The litter baskets in better-advocated-for parts of the city implore residents to "prevent litter", but if this is how the city responds to direct requests for tools to prevent litter, I think they're communicating that a clean neighborhood is a premium experience for only some of the city.