NEW YORK—Shortly after the 2009 New Year’s Eve ball dropped, an army of 89 well-equipped sanitation crews started their new year by rushing into Times Square to clean up about 40 tons of trash left behind by 1 million revelers.
Although with their 13 mechanical brooms, 9 collection trucks, and 75 hand brooms or blowers, a total of 163 workers with the City Department of Sanitation worked until 8 a.m. to sweep up the mess. A new shift began at 11 a.m. to further tidy up the area, according to Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis.
“It was a cold night, and everybody worked hard. One of the people that was here [at 4 a.m.] was telling me that it was still pretty messy by then. If you look around Time Square now, it’s beautiful,” said Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty yesterday morning.
Currently, bits and pieces of garbage may still exist around the city, as nearly 25 mph winds gusted on New Year’s Eve. Therefore, it was hard for the department to provide the exact weight of the trash, but Doherty predicted a little more than last year’s 41 tons. “We’ve been doing it for so many years that it’s pretty much a set operation. The biggest thing is getting the crowd out of the way...but it takes a while. Last night was a windy night. There’s probably confetti as far as the East River,” said Doherty.
As the crews were finishing up, Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived at Times Square on Thursday morning to wish a happy New Year to the workers who worked overnight. He encouraged optimism for 2009 after a chaotic 2008. “Today’s the day to look on the bright side, the good things. I have a lot of optimism,” said Bloomberg. Despite the long hours of cleanup, Bloomberg said that the New Year’s Eve celebration meant a lot to many, particularly tourists.
“It was cold out there, but...you could get that many people coming here. And people I talked to came from all over the the world. And they just loved being here and somebody said that it was a once in a life time opportunity to do it,” said Bloomberg.
