Annual 'Bed-Stuy Beautiful' Clean-Up To Be Held This Weekend

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A volunteer clean-up day will help beautify Bed-Stuy this weekend.

The annual "Bed-Stuy Beautiful" event will kick off at noon on Saturday, Oct. 24 across from 926 Madison St., according to a flyer shared by the Brooklyn Borough President's Office.

It will help clean up Madison Street, Broadway and Putnam and Howard avenues, and last until 3 p.m. Those interested in registering for the event or finding out more can email kentara.john@gmail.com.

The clean-up event will likely be especially welcome this year as Brooklyn and the rest of the boroughs deals with an increase in street-side trash.

The problem has mounted so far that Gov. Andrew Cuomo suggested sending in the National Guard to help clean the city's streets earlier this month.

A Patch review of 311 data this month found that complaints about trash in city parks doubled this summer compared to last year.

The trash complaints coincide with a $106 million cut to the Department of Sanitation's budget, forcing the city to reduce the frequency of garbage collection, as well as an increase in New Yorkers working from home, producing more garbage in residential neighborhoods.

In Bed-Stuy specifically, trash piles have been a problem on Fulton Street and Franklin Avenue. The Department of Sanitation had to step in a few weeks ago to clear a giant pile that had been illegally dumped on the street corner.