New ideas for cleaning up Marble Hill Houses

The war against trash at the Marble Hill Houses is taking a new twist.

Members of the Marble Hill Tenants Association are pushing for a range of measures to counter the perennial problem of garbage accumulating to excess in designated zones and trash covering other parts of the grounds.

Tony Edwards, the association’s vice president, wants authorities to create a new system for fining people who improperly dispose of trash. He wants NYCHA to reposition existing security cameras at the public housing complex to focus on problem areas and identify residents who consistently place trash in those places. 

Mr. Edwards, who is Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez’ community liaison to the Marble Hill community, called on the 50th Precinct to join in the effort to manage trash disposal at the site.

“[Management is] pushing the staff to be more vigilant as far as the pickup, but the issue goes beyond the staff,” said Mr. Edwards. 

He added that the tenants’ association addresses the trash problem at every meeting — “to the point where we sound like a broken record.” 

A NYCHA spokesperson said in an e-mail there are no plans to implement a new fining system. The authority calls residents caught improperly disposing garbage into the management office for an educational meeting on proper garbage disposal, and fines those who are warned more than once.

“We look at these on a case-by-case basis,” the spokesperson said. 

Mr. Edwards said using cameras to identify transgressors would help NYCHA crack down on the trash problem, though he acknowledged the difficult of the task.

Tenants’ Association President Paulette Shomo, who has held the role for 12 years, said the dumping problem extends beyond NYCHA residents. 

She has seen people from buildings surrounding the complex leave their garbage at the Marble Hill Houses. 

“If they see someone else doing it, why can’t they do it?” Ms. Shomo said, imagining the mentality of the people behind the dumping. 

No progress