![\"5-rozner-image-2.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-rozner-image-2.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIt’s easy to complain about litter in New York City, but how many people actually do something about it?<\/p>\n
When one man recently spotted a Brooklyn eyesore near his commuter rail stop, he took matters into his own hands.<\/p>\n
He called out 311 on social media and it ended up being a call to action for himself.<\/p>\n
“People were telling me, ‘Oh, how about you stop making videos about it, and go clean it yourself?’ So I did,” Joshua Service said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is what the underpass looked like when Joshua Service got started.<\/p>\n
@THEGENERALJO<\/p>\n
Service says when he commuted from Queens to his job in Crown Heights last week he noticed a mess under the Long Island Rail Road Nostrand Avenue station near Atlantic Avenue.<\/p>\n
In response to his 311 complaints, the Department of Sanitation said, “It will inspect within 7 days.” Service learned the holdup was due to the site in question also being considered a homeless encampment.<\/p>\n
“It was a catastrophe,” Service said. “Sanitation couldn’t just come and get the bags. They had to make sure it wasn’t the homeless person’s property.”<\/p>\n
When it comes to homeless encampments, New York City requires the Department of Social Services first visit the site seven days in a row<\/a> before it can address the area<\/a>.<\/p>\n “What I worried about was just making sure that the area was neater for everybody,” Service said.<\/p>\n This is what the underpass looked like when Joshua Service was done cleaning it.<\/p>\n CBS News New York<\/p>\n So for two hours on Monday, the 25-year-old says he put on some gloves and filled up about 10 garbage bags.<\/p>\n “Women’s shoes, children’s shoes. I’m seeing that they probably had garbage that was dumped here,” Service said. “Someone was like, ‘Do you work for the Department of Transportation?’ I said, ‘No, man, I’m an independent contractor.'”<\/p>\n Strangers acknowledge his efforts.<\/p>\n “Phenomenal. It was philanthropic. He was passionate about it and cleaned it up. [It’s] something we need more of,” said Haile Ali, of Crown Heights. “It’s a step forward. When you deal with the things going on on this planet, raindrops make puddles, so every little bit counts. You know what I mean?”<\/p>\n![\"5-rozner-image.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-rozner-image.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n