Bed-Stuy Neighbors Clean Street Trash: Join Saturday's Cleanup

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — The same group of Bed-Stuy neighbors who helped hundreds of seniors find vaccine appointments are expanding efforts to clean their neighborhood's streets.

This week for the fifth time, a Brooklyn group formed by neighbors will head out Saturday to the streets of Bed-Stuy to clean trash and litter. The group will soon add Sundays to the weekend schedule.

Bed-Stuy Strong has focused their cleaning efforts around subway stops, including Clifton Place, Myrtle Avenue, Marcy Avenue, Tompkins Avenue and Broadway. From the streets, volunteers often pick up cigarette butts, beverage bottles, coffee cups, dog poop bags and plastic bags.

"The last one we did felt very apparent that street cleaning has not been happening on Myrtle Street," said organizer Natalia Paez. "Some of this trash that was on the street was disintegrating into dust and dirt."

Usually around 15 people show up, but Paez has seen 50 people come out to clean in a single day.

Tomorrow's meet-up details:

When: Saturday, June 5 at 10 a.m.
Where: Patchen St & Hancock Ave in front of Essential Market Deli & Discount
Team Leads: Madeline and Sam

Bring your own supplies to the cleanups. The group is also actively accepting heavy-duty trash bags, gloves, brooms, and dust pans. They have a few supplies to spare each day.

The next cleanups this month are on June 13, June 19 and June 26. In July, cleanups are scheduled for July 10 and July 17.

"[On] one of our cleanups, this guy came up to us and was like, 'Sorry, I've littered on this street before and now that I see you guys cleaning it up, I'm going to be more mindful and find a trash can,'" Paez said. "And we're thinking that it takes just one person to see another person doing it. And it just snowballs into something else."

In response to COVID, Bed-Stuy Strong was founded in March 2020 as an online community and a mutual aid network. Their website states: "We are a network of people committed to each other and to a set of guiding principles, and together have built a series of community initiatives, from food and PPE provision, to voting and vaccine access, to political education reading groups and support for incarcerated neighbors."

Related

• Bed-Stuy Neighbors Help 100s Of Seniors Find Vaccine Appointments
• Spring Cleanup Sweeps Through Trash-Plagued NYC

Bed-Stuy Strong has helped more than 600 neighbors get to their vaccine appointments when a location in Brooklyn closed without sufficient city outreach, directly scheduled appointments for 570 neighbors and returned over 1,200 calls helping people get vaccine information and appointments.

(If you're a Bed-Stuy resident who is unable navigate the vaccine system, call or text Bed-Stuy Strong at 917-551-5417 to receive help. A Bed-Stuy Strong member will call back, ideally within a week.)

As for street cleanups, Paez said she can see Bed-Stuy Strong organizing cleanups well into the fall.

"I've walked stretches of this neighborhood and for five blocks, I've not seen a public trash can," she said. "But I've tried to ask the city for one and got denied. So I don't think that's going to be our quickest solution."

The group is also looking for leaders for each clean-up.

To join or donate cleaning supplies, email Bed-Stuy Strong organizer Natalia at: npaez3@gmail.com