MAKING A MUSEUM: Materializing Regimes of Value with the NYC Department of Sanitation

Garbage bags on the curb. They would keep piling up if no one took them away. How would New Yorkers live their daily life? Before long, the city would be buried in its own refuse; rats and germs would thrive and disease would likely become pandemic. Inhabitants of New York would quickly lose their sense of well being without sanitation workers.

In 2006, the New York Department of Sanitation collected 62,516 tons of curbside residential garbage per week.¹ Each crew collects an average of 10.6 tons per day, which means that the body of a sanitation worker bears the weight of 5.3 tons daily. In some districts, the crew load is even greater: 20 tons per day!²

After the collection trucks take the garbage, where does it go? Until 2001, the majority of New York's refuse was deposited into local landfills such as Fresh Kills. Currently, there are no operating landfills in the city, so all tonnage is exported out of the city, mostly by truck. The trash is then landfilled in states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.³ This is not only costly, but pollutes much more than having landfill space in the city would: under the current system hundreds of semi-trucks criss-cross the country daily, clogging the country's roadways and using massive amounts of fuel simply to deposit New York City's waste. Clearly, waste management is not solved by sending refuse away and making it someone else's problem.

And, besides, waste management is far more complicated than simply exporting trash. The DSNY also has to deal with hazardous waste from industrial and household activities. For instance, if you want to dispose of an old air conditioner or refrigerator, you must schedule an appointment with the Sanitation Department to remove the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas. And even then, the Department's work is not done. The shell of the appliance is collected on the regular recycling schedule and then smashed and stripped for its resalable materials.⁴

In fact, recycling is required by New York City law. The Department conducts programs to reutilize many useful materials: it picks up approximately 400,000 tons of paper each year and 300,000 tons of metal, glass, and plastic. In addition, the DSNY collects 20,000 tons of autumn leaves and 2,500 tons of Christmas trees. The leaves are composted (a fraction of which is given back to New York City residents free of charge), while the Christmas trees are wood-chipped and then turned into mulch.⁵

As you can see, the DSNY is a complex system composed of numerous functions, all of which are necessary to keep the city running smoothly. Snow removal is perhaps the most pressing and calamitous of these tasks. When a big storm hits the city, the Department of Sanitation is responsible for keeping New York's 6,000 miles of streets clear and safe.⁶

The DSNY performs many other vital tasks that most people either take for granted or don't know about. For example, all parades and major public events are cleaned up by the Department. Consider that the beloved New York City Marathon, for which there are 35,000 participants and 2 million spectators, generates approximately 250 tons of litter and requires a crew of 140 personnel to clean up.⁷

Also realize that filthy and empty lots are cleaned by the DSNY's Lot Cleaning Division in order to stem disease spread by rodents and mosquitoes.⁸ Along the roads, the Department of Sanitation organizes pick-ups of abandoned vehicles through its Derelict Vehicle Operations Unit.⁹ And, for city beautification, the Department's Bureau of Motor Equipment has designed an all-in-one anti-graffiti truck that has a computer, pressure washer, spectrometer, and paint mixer and dispenser, so that it can perfectly match the color of any defaced surface.¹⁰ But the list doesn't stop there. Consider DSNY's "New Homes for Old Stuff," an advocacy program to motivate New Yorkers to make better use of the secondary goods market¹¹ — truly, the DSNY is a key component of our thriving metropolis.

Endnotes:

1. "Refuse/Recycling Operations," in DSNY Annual Report 2006, ed., Turso, Vito A. Distributed by the City of New York in 2007, p. 11.
2. The Bronx 7 district is known for the extraordinary amount of refuse its inhabitants generate. Nagle, Robin, personal communication during "Making a Museum" class taught at NYU during the Fall of 2007 semester.
3. Miller, Benjamin Lecture delivered in October 2007 as part of "Making a Museum" class taught at NYU during the Fall of 2007 semester.
4. All the information, starting with "For instance..." through "...materials" was gleaned from "Recycling," in DSNY Annual Report 2006, ed., Turso, Vito A. Distributed by the City of New York in 2007, p. 13.
5. All the information, starting with "In fact..." through "...mulch" was gleaned from NYCWastle$$ "What Happens to Recyclables?" Department of Sanitation New York, http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/recycling/recycle_whathappens.shtml
6. "Office of the First Deputy Commissioneer," in DSNY Annual Report 2006, ed., Turso, Vito A. Distributed by the City of New York in 2007, p. 7.
7. Dawkins, Kathy and Vito A. Turso, "Sanitation Fleet Sweeps Streets After Fleet-Footed Marathoners," Press Release by the New York Department of Sanitation, November 5, 2004, available online at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/pr2004/110504b.shtml
8. "Lot Cleaning Division," in DSNY Annual Report 2006, ed., Turso, Vito A. Distributed by the City of New York in 2007, p. 10.
9. "Cleaning Operations," in DSNY Annual Report 2006, ed., Turso, Vito A. Distributed by the City of New York in 2007, p. 8.
10. "Support Operations," in DSNY Annual Report 1999, ed., Young, Paula. Distributed by the City of New York in 2007, p. 17.
11. NYCWastle$$ "What Happens to Recyclables?" Department of Sanitation New York, http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/new_homes/new_homes.shtml