Soundview residents angered by trash littering area around Bruckner Overpass

Families in Soundview say community members don’t deserve to wade through trash on their daily commutes.

Noelle Lilley

Oct 22, 2024, 2:28 AM

Updated 44 days ago

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Residents in Soundview say the Bruckner Overpass is constantly littered with trash.
News 12’s Noëlle Lilley went to check it out Monday morning and discovered it to be a complicated, multiagency issue.
When News 12's cameras were there, there were needles, shattered glass, pizza boxes, a wig, a printer and even a whole couch cushion.
Families in Soundview say community members don’t deserve to wade through trash on their daily commutes.
The bridge is a crucial walkway in the Bronx. It connects residents and students of I.S. 123 on one side of the Bruckner Expressway, to stores like Food Bazaar and Advance Auto Parts on the other side.
Bronx Councilwoman Amanda Farías has been working to help clean up the overpass since the parents of M.S. 337 brought it to her attention over the summer.
However, residents say a long-term solution is needed like cameras to catch litterers in the act.
Part of the challenge is a question of enforcement. The city Department of Transportation told News 12 that it is the responsibility of the Department of Sanitation.
However, DSNY says although it regularly cleans the area, it's the city DOT that is in charge of overpasses.
The state Department of Transportation backed this up—it also told our newsroom that it was under the jurisdiction of city DOT.
News 12 reached back out to that agency and will continue to update this story.