After EarthDay '20 NEW YORK Leads Cities, Virus-Breeding Litter

by STEVE SPACEK litterscorecard.com TWITTER @litterscorecard

May 10, 2020 – NEW YORK CITY leads major American communities in the recent released "USA's 15 Big, Litter Polluted Cities"-- a list of metropolises nationwide where littering and dumping of virus-breeding solid wastes is visible and widespread; where Covid-19 cases are most concentrated and deadliest. This information comes from Steve Spacek, a national public performance specialist and director of the American State Litter Scorecard.

New York and several Centers for Disease Control "hotbeds" for the Coronavirus—Los Angeles, Baltimore, Miami, Detroit and New Orleans, along with large communities with fewer Covid-19 case totals-- Las Vegas, Houston, Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Fort Worth-- are "among the 15 Scorecard listed cities," said Spacek. He added, "The chosen all have 375,000 or more total populations, selected by credible data reviews obtained from municipalities themselves, state and federal sources, respected media and public-obtained feedback."

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency and revered health science journals, "solid wastes are quite capable to breed and transmit fatal viruses and diseases--Covid-19, Tetanus, Hepatitis A, Malaria, Zika," advised Spacek. He added, "Cigarette filters, paper food packaging, plastic beverage containers and large garbage can bags can be mistaken for food, consumed by cattle, poultry and seafood that is later bought, eaten by humans."

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates over 800 persons have died each year since 2010-- roughly 3 Americans killed per day-- from both pedestrian and vehicular encounters with waste and related-debris on sidewalks, streets, trails, parks, streams. "These life-ending incidents can occur anytime and under all types of weather," Spacek said. He added that in 2017, the City of New York suffered the highest fatality total--at least 12 killed--for 1000's of American communities, large or small.

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, decades of Gallup polls continue to find "a majority of Americans have a great concern for pollution and its management by government," said Spacek. "Its plain to see New York's five boroughs have become big-time hygiene and safety failures to citizens. Filthy public spaces are improperly or never cleaned. Miles of sidewalks are laden with huge, un-secured garbage bags obstructing needed walking space for pedestrians and the handicapped. Support to encourage recycling of thrown-away items is lackluster, both from local officials and from the Statehouse at Albany. Sadly, the Big Apple appears willing to be pay an horrific price for not truly embracing the Green movement: senseless, preventable deaths."