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Home DSNY Life DSNY History NYC Department of Street Cleaning

NYC Department of Street Cleaning

where it all started 1881
Now these guys must have done some tough MLP.
I feel they didn't have good working conditions, probably worked close to home.
Pay was also poor.
learn more
2021 1929
humble beginnings 1929 NYC Department of Sanitation is born. learn more 1881 1990 mass production 1990 This is where I come in. Recycling and Women are the stories everybody is talking about. learn more 1929 2001 we went global 2001 We will never be the same. learn more 1990 2010 picked up few awards 2010 Welcome to the digital world, ended the year in a bad storm. learn more 2001 2020 Retiring and hIRING 2020 Covid-19 is here. learn more 2010 2021 where we are now 2021 Hiring and retiring still going on. learn more 2020 1881
1880s The Beginnings

1880s was not the beginning of cleaning this city, but it was a turning point in putting a thoughtful plan in place.
To see how hard this was, one must know what this city looked like and to put yourself in their shoes to get a good idea how DSNY rolled in those days

  • Before 1881 Street cleaning was being supervised by the Police Department.
  • Wages were somewhere around 1.25 a day from what I can see, buying a pair of boots would cost you 4 days of work @ 3-4 dollars.
  • Diseases was their main concern.
  • The understanding of germs and how they contribute to health and sanitary conditions in the city and their effects was underway.
  • When a horse died, you couldn’t call a tow truck. “Since a dead horse was heavy (about 1,300 pounds) and difficult to move, sanitation workers left it to rot away, then carted off the bones. For example, in 1880, an average year, workers removed some 15,000 horse carcasses.”

A practice I think we still do.2)

1890s White Wings are born

1900s Going Mobile

1910s Strike and a Flu Pandemic

1920s End of an Era

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