By Jack Tomczuk<\/p>\n
Twice-a-week trash pickup has arrived for much of North Philadelphia<\/a>, parts of Kensington, Fishtown and Northern Liberties.<\/p>\n Mayor Cherelle Parker\u2019s administration expanded the initiative this week to an area<\/a> bounded by Vine Street and Hunting Park Avenue west of Broad Street; east of Broad, the zone extends from Vine to Glenwood Avenue, C Street and the CSX railroad tracks.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s two-day-a-week garbage collection program launched in late 2024 in Center City and South Philadelphia.<\/a> Administration officials said the areas selected so far have high population density, a proliferation of multi-family housing and limited places to store their waste.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes people think that everyone has a backyard to store trash,\u201d Parker said Monday during an announcement event in Kensington. \u201cIt is not the case. That’s not standard operating procedure for all neighborhoods in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Officials hope the additional pickup day discourages residents from throwing bags on street corners, in vacant lots or around city-maintained trash cans to free up space in their homes. Steps away from Monday\u2019s news conference, garbage, including household items, piled alongside the CSX tracks that run parallel to Tusculum and Gurney streets.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, people take matters into their own hands because they don’t have other options,\u201d said Carlton Williams, director of the city\u2019s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. \u201cWell, today we’re giving them those options by offering a second collection day.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce one person does it, everybody else begins to try to do it. This cumulative effect then creates a dumping spot, and all of a sudden you see those contractors and so forth start to dump it because they think this is okay to do in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n