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Greenfield Rallies for Cleaner Streets, Better Jobs

Council Member Greenfield Calls for Renewal, Expansion of NYC Cleanup

New York City Council Members, Partners, and Community Leaders Rally for Cleaner Streets, Better Jobs for New Yorkers in Need

NEW YORK — New York City Councilmember David Greenfield led a rally on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday, calling for the renewal and expansion of “NYC Cleanup,” the highly successful street cleaning and neighborhood beautification initiative spearheaded by the councilmember last year. Greenfield has called for an increase of last year’s $3.5 Million allocation to $6 Million for FY16. The initiative’s funds are divided equally among the 51 members of the City Council and reserved for quality-of-life improvements and services.

“The success of the NYC Cleanup initiative is unparalleled. As a Councilman, one of my most important focuses is in quality of life. When I launched this initiative last year, I had one goal: to make New York City’s streets cleaner. I am asking that this initiative be increased because I believe that even more can be done to make all 51 Districts spotless. My many thanks to the Doe Fund and the other nonprofits who work extremely hard to beautify our neighborhoods each day,” said Council Member Greenfield.

Councilmember Costa Constantinides added, “The NYC Cleanup initiative has helped make our neighborhoods cleaner on a street-by-street, grassroots basis. Keeping our sidewalks clean makes our communities more appealing to shoppers, tourists, visitors, and residents. It also brings economic development benefits to our small business owners. I join my colleague Council Member David Greenfield and The Doe Fund’s Men in Blue as we call for an enhancement to this initiative so that we can keep our city even more clean and beautiful next year.”

The benefits of the initiative were not limited to the conditions of streets and sidewalks, however. Beneficiaries of the funding, including The Doe Fund and other nonprofit organizations who serve the formerly homeless, incarcerated, and long-term unemployed, have expanded their programs as a direct result.

“Thanks to Councilmember Greenfield and our City Council supporters, we were empowered to create 100 new full time jobs for people recovering from homelessness and incarceration. And because the funds were available to all councilmembers throughout the city, we’re able to place our trainees on routes in the neighborhoods where they’re from,” said George T. McDonald, founder and president of The Doe Fund. “That’s an incredibly important step for many of the people we serve…they’re able to give back to their own neighborhoods, improve them, uplift them. And that plays an enormous role in the change they’re making in their own lives. We as a city owe Councilmember Greenfield a great deal for his leadership. And we can start paying it forward by expanding this initiative.”

Councilmember Donovan Richards concurred. “The ‘men in blue’ are always a welcomed sight on our streets and have become a necessary element that helps to keep our communities clean,” Richards said. “However, the opportunity The Doe Fund provides for our young men to build better lives is more than enough of a reason to renew their funding and then some.”
The holistic benefits of the initiative and the need to expand it was summarized by Councilmember Mark Treyger who remarked, “Clean neighborhoods are a win-win for the entire community.”

Councilmember Greenfield was also joined at the podium by Public Advocate Tish James, Mark Weprin, Paul Vallone, Eric Ulrich, and Brad Lander, along with representatives from the Association for Community Employment Programs, The Horticultural Society, and Wildcat Service Corporation. The rally concluded with Councilmember Greenfield stressing the value of economic opportunity for the street cleaning crews in attendance. Referring to their uniforms he said, “I see red, white, and blue here today. I see America.”