{"id":162918,"date":"2026-03-13T23:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/162918\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:09:10","slug":"nyc-street-cleaning-big-brooms-and-patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/162918\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC street cleaning: Big brooms and patience"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2013 Keeping the streets of New York City clean is no small task; street cleaning in the City requires big mechanical brooms and patience.<\/p>\n

In a city where activity never slows down, trash, debris, and winter leftovers can pile up quickly.<\/p>\n

Snow and ice can suspend alternate-side parking rules, allowing debris to accumulate along curbs. Once the snow melts, sanitation crews begin the slow process of sweeping thousands of miles of city streets.<\/p>\n

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For many residents, street cleaning means time spent waiting in their cars.<\/p>\n

In Greenpoint, Brooklyn, commuter Daniela spent part of her Friday morning parked along the curb, complying with alternate side parking regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou end up in the car at some point. I know people sit and work. I\u2019m taking a chill Friday. New York is always a little dirty, grimy even on the best days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Street sweepers eventually arrive with the familiar hum of engines and rotating brushes \u2014 a welcome sound for drivers waiting to reclaim parking spots and neighbors hoping for cleaner streets.<\/p>\n

Matt Padovano, a supervisor with the New York City Department of Sanitation, said crews face a particularly heavy workload after storms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely the aftermath of a snowstorm with debris, snow, ice. Now it\u2019s time for the cleanup,\u201d Padovano said.<\/p>\n

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But sweeping city streets is rarely straightforward. Crews often navigate around obstacles, including permitted trash containers and parked vehicles that remain during cleaning hours.<\/p>\n

When cars are parked, sweepers must drive around them, leaving about a 35-foot stretch of uncleaned curb.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t do our job if you don\u2019t do yours,\u201d Padovano said.<\/p>\n

City rules divide the responsibility for clean streets. Property owners must clear debris within 18 inches of the curb, and drivers must move their vehicles according to alternate-side parking signs.<\/p>\n

If debris stays in the street, sanitation officials say the consequences can extend beyond appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this debris you see now will end up in the storm drain. It\u2019ll clog that and then flooding happens; it\u2019s unsafe conditions. There could be nails out here, cause flat tires,\u201d Padovano said.<\/p>\n

Modern street sweepers now include GPS tracking, allowing the sanitation department to monitor where trucks have cleaned and measure compliance across the city. According to the department\u2019s most recent report, more than 90% of city streets are rated clean.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2013 Keeping the streets of New York City clean is no small task; street cleaning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4248,23585,9,56,63,65,64,67237],"class_list":["post-162918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-alternate-side-parking","tag-city-streets","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-street-cleaning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}