Most reduced income tenants do not feel it is their responsibility to handle trash, even though you will see it as their responsibility in almost all leases. They also don't want to spend their money on trash bags, which are getting more expensive by the year. The city (yes, Newark is an actual city) does not place enough litter bins on the sidewalks, and they often fill up quick, and it all blows away all over the place.

Most properties are 2 to 4 units, which means there is no staff to sweep the grounds and rebag poorly-bagged trash.

Larger buildings (20+ units) tend to have a superintendent on premises. That person typically goes through the entire building's worth of trash twice a week, rebags all of it in heavy duty bags, and picks up litter every single day around the property, including dog poop, and then schleps all those bags out to the sidewalk for regular pickup. I did that singlehandedly twice a week, every week in the south ward for a few years of my life. On that job, I have smelled odors that left me gagging while wondering how on earth or what on earth those odors came from. I had a few rats jump at me a few times in the process. I knew of some superintendents in other buildings that did not keep up with it, and it resulted in a lot of trash everywhere too.

I also experienced at least a dozen times where homeless or random people came by and tore open the trash bags looking for recycables or other items they can use, and then leave whatever they didn't take just spread out all over the place. That used to really piss me off. Not much I could do except feel bad for those fked up ppl, and clean everything back up.

Buildings with 50+ units tend to keep private rental dumpsters that get emptied by a truck every week. It's a lot easier on the superintendent. But those buildings are few and far between.

That's how you end up with loose trash and litter everywhere.

Exact same situation in the ironbound!! People have absolutely no sense of common decency. I blame the city. Tight enforcement and heavy fines for trash being left out without bins or in anything other than trash bags would set people straight pronto. People respond to incentives; make it expensive to litter and they won’t.

PS> the cost of trash bags is no excuse for not bagging and binning your trash. If you are a tenant, landlords should be providing sufficient bins.

I enjoyed living in the Ironbound but one of the major driving factors for leaving was the state of Penn Station and the surrounding area. I've seen people poop against the wall and it sat there for weeks until the rain washed it away. My wife and I volunteered on Thanksgiving and the park and surrounding area was THRASHED.

And the sidewalks are a complete mess, broken, uneven concrete, some sidewalks don’t even have concrete it’s just sand, many sidewalks have been destroyed to make illegal parking spots in front of houses and multi family bldgs, it’s a completely mess and safety hazard, AND NO-ONE IS DOING ANYTHING ABOUT! Cars permanently double parked on one way st. Blocking traffic on the daily basis SMH

Which neighborhood do you live in?

Not to be that guy all the time, but litter and dirty city streets is a major issue in almost every major US city. You can google litter and enter any major city and read article upon article about how dirty said city is. Its just such a big and complex issue. For one, cities are usually super dense which usually means more trash and more trash usually means more of it will overflow causing the issue. Another reason is that cities in the US usually take out the garbage in big plastic bags and leave it on the sidewalk on trash day which allows the homeless and animals to pick at it. Another reason is that US cities have been conditioned to not spend money on major infrastructure projects that would seriously tackle the issue. For example, in Europe, cities have long gone for placing trash underground where it would be collected at a later date. That costs a shit ton of cash to retrofit cities with that, but lead to healthier environments.... in the US, since the 70s, policy has turned from spending money on internal issues to basically leaving cities to fend for themselves which pushed cities to rely on major credit bureau to help them invest in major projects (this is why a city's Moody score is so important as they literally dictate which cities are worthy of investment and which ones are not [basically, if a city uses less of its budget on social services like police, fire department, sanitation, and can balance the budget they are investment worthy]), and that has forced cities to ignore major social issues.

Also, there issue of cycles... if you grew up in a city with trash issues you are more likely to contribute and unfortunately Newark, like many of its siblings, are all suffer from that cycle.

Ras fuckin up

What neighborhood are you in? If your neighbors are a big issue call 311 AND report it on the city app. One or two summons will get a lot of response from the property owner. The thing is the city doesn’t PROACTIVELY go around looking for filthy front yards. But immediate neighbor complaints go a long way.

I'm trying to get my school to organize a cleanup of the block we're on. It's filthy and sets a bade vibe for the school.

The city doesn't enforce no littering

Newark is a depressive city smh. Sounds like my block

This is true

Living with litter isn't good for mental health and a happy day. It is like living in a dirty apartment.