Eric Adams - Mayor of New York City, Part 4

Sam Wright21 said:Rather than reversing that downward trend, they’ve essentially ignored any semblance of balanced urban development, leaving us in a position where they wouldn't even hold their previous strongholds a year ago.

It isn't even a matter of malice; they are simply incompetent, coupled with a level of arrogance that makes them utterly useless.

P.S. I'm watching a worker from the NYC Parks Department trying to patch together some grass right outside my building, but it hasn't even begun to take root. 😕

Meanwhile, the blackberry thicket encroaching on our little local park is left completely untouched—presumably because the land belongs to the federal government, which has zero interest in maintaining it. I even spotted two little foxes lurking in there, which suggests they've made it their permanent residence.

I find myself wondering: is it really such a monumental task to tidy up a space and send the bill to the state?

Who’s actually gonna pay up? Not happening.

By the way, why don't you try letting your own property go to hell and see how much trouble you get in from this same government?

Sam Wright21 said:It’s essentially a paradise for mosquitoes, too. A city shouldn't be footing the bill for maintaining someone else's private property, but they ought to at least issue an order or send the owner a bill. Instead, the code enforcement officers seem completely toothless; they can't even give me a straight answer—I couldn't manage to extract a single coherent explanation from them. It reminds me of my father's property out in the Hamptons; the local inspector just threatens him with a fine until he cleans up the lot, and that's the end of the conversation.

So, you mentioned you've been tending to the plot yourself because the inspector suggested it, or perhaps suggesting we hire some crew to handle the heavy lifting. Believe me, I would if I could, but I simply can't afford to shoulder that cost alone. Besides, I wouldn't dream of touching it right now—there are a few foxes making themselves quite comfortable in the brush.

There's some sort of maintenance agreement in place for houses and yards that are tied up in public auctions. Which, obviously, isn't working. Another one nearby is stuck in some years-long probate mess, and they only finally stepped in there because someone called in a complaint about ragweed.

dustymarlin10 said:Who’s actually gonna pay up? Not happening.

By the way, why don't you try letting your own property go to hell and see how much trouble you get in from this same government?

Look, there’s neglected land and crumbling infrastructure scattered all across the United States, not just tucked away in New York City...

@Andrej
It actually caught me off guard when, after several decades of pure neglect, the state finally bothered to tidy up the park near the local community center. Or rather, they just cleared out the overgrown brush. And even then, they were only fixing up the area inside the hospital fence.

driftingtinker said:For me, it’s this massive plot of private land the bank snatched away six years ago, and apparently, New York City is supposed to be the one looking after these overgrown patches of nothingness.

I spent the first two years out there doing all the work myself on my own dime, but once I finally threw in the towel, the neighbors just kept nagging the city workers with zero results.

The ragweed doesn't bother me much, honestly. Between the pack of my neighbor's Extra Extra Extra Large cats patrolling the area—which keeps the pests away—and the fact that I stay on top of the tick treatments for my dog, I can actually just sit back and enjoy the quiet and the smell of the woods.

This makes absolutely no sense...

dustymarlin10 said:Who’s actually gonna pay up? Not happening.

By the way, why don't you try letting your own property go to hell and see how much trouble you get in from this same government?

Facts. This is exactly why the courts should be wrapping these things up in three or four days. But instead, we get this endless cycle of "only this" and "only that"...

Laura Reyes3 said:This makes absolutely no sense...

Not to me either, I guess, but that’s just how the machine runs. They probably have some service contract with local contractors or whatever. The Department of Sanitation gets all the reports, they log them, everything... but then nobody actually shows up.

Sean Peterson76 said:The whole sanitation system has been a mess for years; people are just finally starting to make noise about it now.
I hear they barely show up in certain neighborhoods, yet right here near Manhattan, they’ve shown up two days in a row just to empty bins that aren't even full.

In my neck of the woods, it’s always been Wednesday and Saturday early in the morning—over on Broadway. Honestly, nothing has changed one bit.

It’s clear nobody can get a word in edgewise with Adams, especially when his biggest critics are busy posting about literal dog crap washed away by the rain and a dead pigeon.

gentlemoose57 said:In my neck of the woods, it’s always been Wednesday and Saturday early in the morning—over on Broadway. Honestly, nothing has changed one bit.

Same here. No issues with trash collection at all. I haven't seen anything unusual anywhere in the city. I’m not saying there isn't a missed pickup somewhere or that the Department of Sanitation doesn't have hurdles to clear, but this whole thing feels blown way out of proportion by the media... especially since the city isn't exactly drowning in garbage.

It feels like the goal is just to paint Adams as a complete failure and an idiot. For twenty years, nobody cared about organized crime, mafia influence, massive debts, or triple-charging for every single contract. Now, suddenly, the city administration is responsible for everything, even when leaves fall from the trees in autumn...

Jack Hill2 said:Same here. No issues with trash collection at all. I haven't seen anything unusual anywhere in the city. I’m not saying there isn't a missed pickup somewhere or that the Department of Sanitation doesn't have hurdles to clear, but this whole thing feels blown way out of proportion by the media... especially since the city isn't exactly drowning in garbage.

It feels like the goal is just to paint Adams as a complete failure and an idiot. For twenty years, nobody cared about organized crime, mafia influence, massive debts, or triple-charging for every single contract. Now, suddenly, the city administration is responsible for everything, even when leaves fall from the trees in autumn...

And on top of that, they’re calling him up to save the Los Angeles Lakers, even though he probably doesn't even have the legal authority to pull that off. And if—God forbid—the Lakers actually go under, everyone's gonna start pointing fingers at him, even though his predecessor basically caused the whole mess in the first place.

I actually decided to look up the Department of Sanitation online.

This is what I found:

- No new trucks have been purchased in five years, yet they’re running them through two or three shifts
- 45% of the fleet is out of commission
- They are short at least 25 trucks
- Regular maintenance hasn't been performed for years
- Debt from repairs and parts has been piling up for years
- Way too many administrative staff, not enough actual workers
- Young, capable people are leaving because the pay is too low, and they can find better work elsewhere

To me, these don't look like issues that started yesterday... and they won't be fixed within a single term.

Honestly, it sounds like the classic symptoms of a corrupt mindset:
"Who cares if we skip a service interval? We can just pocket the cash, and nobody will notice."
"It doesn't matter if we swap a new part for a used one on a city truck. Nobody will catch on." plus "The city/state/county won't go bankrupt over $0.33"
"No big deal if we pay double for a part, nobody will notice."
"Doesn't matter if we hire one more person for administration, it won't kill anyone."
"Who cares about ten years from now? As long as we grab the money while we can."
"You'd be crazy not to take advantage of the situation while you can."
"I'm not going to be the only honest fool left."
Etc.

It’s incredible how much effort goes into spinning a narrative just to shield this disastrous administration from accountability. Let’s be real: the city has never been this filthy, and we've never seen water main breaks on this kind of scale. If this were purely the result of years of neglect, we would see a gradual decline, not this sudden, violent collapse of infrastructure. Is it really that difficult for people to accept that NGO activists, street drummers, and hysterical busybodies actually have zero clue how municipal management works?

I mean, they don't necessarily need to be briefed on every little detail—but if you ask me, they’re far too wrapped up in their own pride to actually listen to a decent suggestion, much like what was mentioned in the post above. It's just how they operate.

Jack Hill2 said:I actually decided to look up the Department of Sanitation online.

This is what I found:

- No new trucks have been purchased in five years, yet they’re running them through two or three shifts
- 45% of the fleet is out of commission
- They are short at least 25 trucks
- Regular maintenance hasn't been performed for years
- Debt from repairs and parts has been piling up for years
- Way too many administrative staff, not enough actual workers
- Young, capable people are leaving because the pay is too low, and they can find better work elsewhere

To me, these don't look like issues that started yesterday... and they won't be fixed within a single term.

Honestly, it sounds like the classic symptoms of a corrupt mindset:
"Who cares if we skip a service interval? We can just pocket the cash, and nobody will notice."
"It doesn't matter if we swap a new part for a used one on a city truck. Nobody will catch on." plus "The city/state/county won't go bankrupt over $0.33"
"No big deal if we pay double for a part, nobody will notice."
"Doesn't matter if we hire one more person for administration, it won't kill anyone."
"Who cares about ten years from now? As long as we grab the money while we can."
"You'd be crazy not to take advantage of the situation while you can."
"I'm not going to be the only honest fool left."
Etc.

It’s no secret that these issues didn't just appear overnight, yet there was more than enough time to actually fix them. How on earth can anyone argue that a single term isn't sufficient? If you listen to the implication behind the claim that one mandate isn't enough, it essentially admits that the current administration is utterly incompetent—leaving us to stare down the barrel of a total systemic collapse.

What exactly is our priority here—investing in an electric vehicle fleet or just getting twenty-five trucks on the road for the Department of Sanitation? If we are facing a labor shortage, the solution isn't some flashy technological pivot; it’s basic management. You raise wages, you improve working conditions, and you start recruiting new staff immediately to fill those gaps.

nimblescout50 said:I mean, they don't necessarily need to be briefed on every little detail—but if you ask me, they’re far too wrapped up in their own pride to actually listen to a decent suggestion, much like what was mentioned in the post above. It's just how they operate.

Arrogance, gluttony... the usual suspects.

Jack Hill2 said:I actually decided to look up the Department of Sanitation online.

This is what I found:

- No new trucks have been purchased in five years, yet they’re running them through two or three shifts
- 45% of the fleet is out of commission
- They are short at least 25 trucks
- Regular maintenance hasn't been performed for years
- Debt from repairs and parts has been piling up for years
- Way too many administrative staff, not enough actual workers
- Young, capable people are leaving because the pay is too low, and they can find better work elsewhere

To me, these don't look like issues that started yesterday... and they won't be fixed within a single term.

Honestly, it sounds like the classic symptoms of a corrupt mindset:
"Who cares if we skip a service interval? We can just pocket the cash, and nobody will notice."
"It doesn't matter if we swap a new part for a used one on a city truck. Nobody will catch on." plus "The city/state/county won't go bankrupt over $0.33"
"No big deal if we pay double for a part, nobody will notice."
"Doesn't matter if we hire one more person for administration, it won't kill anyone."
"Who cares about ten years from now? As long as we grab the money while we can."
"You'd be crazy not to take advantage of the situation while you can."
"I'm not going to be the only honest fool left."
Etc.

A lot of what was written might actually be true. It probably worked that way for a long time, but...
Didn't we elect him to improve things? Not to make them worse. And the situation is significantly worse after just one year.
In one of your previous comments, you mentioned that trash pickup works great and you don't see bags by overflowing bins, plus even the new Director of Sanitation admitted there are issues. Are you suggesting he's lying?😁
And one more thing. During his first year, our Mayor brought in a new director from Indianapolis. He gets a pretty decent salary and a $0.00 housing allowance. How did he earn that? Through successes in his old job in Indianapolis? Or is it something else?

Following the recent New York City Council meeting, where an amendment to the employment contract for the head of the local Sanitation branch, Davor Vić, was announced—which was signed with him on December 31st by the head of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Ivan Novaković—it was revealed to the public that this Democrat from Indianapolis is being granted a monthly housing and utility allowance of $1667 on top of his 26,000 gross salary. That's nearly double what members of Congress or other officials get, plus a company vehicle that he uses to drive back to Indianapolis every single week. That travel alone costs about $1000 a month, which is roughly what an "average Joe" working for the Department of Sanitation would pay if he used his own car to visit family in Indianapolis.

I mean, if they’re seriously short on trucks, why not just engineer some trash-hauling streetcars? Since they aren't going to budge on those overnight pickups anyway—it's like trying to stop a freight train with a toothpick.

nimblescout50 said:I mean, if they’re seriously short on trucks, why not just engineer some trash-hauling streetcars? Since they aren't going to budge on those overnight pickups anyway—it's like trying to stop a freight train with a toothpick.

And why on earth would you assume the streetcars are in any better shape?

Sam Wright21 said:It’s no secret that these issues didn't just appear overnight, yet there was more than enough time to actually fix them. How on earth can anyone argue that a single term isn't sufficient? If you listen to the implication behind the claim that one mandate isn't enough, it essentially admits that the current administration is utterly incompetent—leaving us to stare down the barrel of a total systemic collapse.

What exactly is our priority here—investing in an electric vehicle fleet or just getting twenty-five trucks on the road for the Department of Sanitation? If we are facing a labor shortage, the solution isn't some flashy technological pivot; it’s basic management. You raise wages, you improve working conditions, and you start recruiting new staff immediately to fill those gaps.

But honestly, how are you supposed to raise wages when you've got certain companies sitting on too many employees? Cutting staff costs money too, and it's not like you can just snap your fingers and shift that cash over to other departments. Plus, you've still got plenty of firms struggling because they lack workers or even the basic tools and supplies to get the job done.
I wonder why the unions aren't pointing fingers at who actually caused this mess. Maybe they should go after the Bloomberg crowd, the Republican Party, and their buddies who were busy treating the Banditos like gods.

And now, everyone's freaking out because it looks like the Boston Celtics might actually fold. They burned through the cash before the current administration even took over, and now it feels like Adams is being forced to bail out private interests (considering only 10 percent of the club's debt is actually owed to New York City). Sports turned into a luxury ages ago, and in this country, it's mostly just a playground for the Republican Party to farm votes. If they want to help, they should go ahead.

Alex Moore3 said:A lot of what was written might actually be true. It probably worked that way for a long time, but...
Didn't we elect him to improve things? Not to make them worse. And the situation is significantly worse after just one year.
In one of your previous comments, you mentioned that trash pickup works great and you don't see bags by overflowing bins, plus even the new Director of Sanitation admitted there are issues. Are you suggesting he's lying?😁
And one more thing. During his first year, our Mayor brought in a new director from Indianapolis. He gets a pretty decent salary and a $0.00 housing allowance. How did he earn that? Through successes in his old job in Indianapolis? Or is it something else?

Following the recent New York City Council meeting, where an amendment to the employment contract for the head of the local Sanitation branch, Davor Vić, was announced—which was signed with him on December 31st by the head of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Ivan Novaković—it was revealed to the public that this Democrat from Indianapolis is being granted a monthly housing and utility allowance of $1667 on top of his 26,000 gross salary. That's nearly double what members of Congress or other officials get, plus a company vehicle that he uses to drive back to Indianapolis every single week. That travel alone costs about $1000 a month, which is roughly what an "average Joe" working for the Department of Sanitation would pay if he used his own car to visit family in Indianapolis.

Look, imagine something is plummeting downward. Can you just grab it mid-air and force it to sprint upward? Doesn't seem that simple to me... I feel like you'd have to push damn hard just to slow the fall first, then stop the drop, and only *then* can you start heading up.