House Fresh: Hunts Point section in the Bronx is one of the dirtiest ZIP codes in NYC
The study found that Hunts Point, with its ZIP code being 10474, had the fifth-highest complaint rates in the city.
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A new study by House Fresh has found Hunts Point to be one of the dirtiest ZIP codes in New York City.
The study examined the number of sanitary complaints across New York City. It looked at issues related to garbage, waste and recycling. It found that Hunts Point, with its ZIP code being 10474, had the fifth-highest complaint rates in the city.
Rounding out the top five dirtiest ZIP codes were Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn and three ZIP codes in Staten Island.
Hunts Point residents who spoke with News 12 say they aren't surprised considering they notice garbage laying around all of the time. They said they believe it’s a complex issue with people dropping trash on the ground and buildings not taking care of garbage on front sidewalks.
One building owner in the area told News 12 that the Department of Sanitation is at fault.
“Sanitation- they don’t do the job. We approach them and they say, 'We’re going to take care of it,' and they never do. And people in my building, they get aggravated because they want to live in a nice, clean area," says Jaffre Jaramilo, building owner.
Other areas in the Bronx like Co-Op City came in squeaky clean earning a spot in the top five cleanest ZIP codes in the city.
The study also found that New York City has a surprisingly low complaint rate, faring far better than cities like Baltimore and Los Angeles.
The Department of Sanitation responded to the study saying:
Our levels of service are higher than they have ever been, and New Yorkers are noticing a cleaner City as a result.
By changing trash set-out times and shifting our own operations, we have drastically reduced the number of hours trash sits out on the curb, while our new containerization requirements and incentives are moving millions of pounds of smelly trash out of black bags and into rat-proof containers.
At the same time, we are servicing litter baskets more often than ever, cleaning more than 1,700 neglected areas previously caught in a bureaucratic mess, cleaning highway shoulders and ramps (including along the Bruckner Expressway) with our first ever Highway Unit, and cracking down on illegal dumping (with a special focus on Hunts Point) using dozens of cameras to catch criminals who for too long have gotten away with dumping on our neighborhoods.
