Friday’s Headlines: It’s a Dirty Job Edition

The big news yesterday was the “Get Stuff Done” mayor announcing a multi-agency “Get Stuff Clean” initiative. How big? Well, not that big: PoliticsNY, Gothamist and the Staten Island Advance covered it (and some TV, but does that really count?).

But it boils down to this: The mayor promised on Thursday to get rid of “No Man’s Land” areas around the city — places like sides of highways — that have long fallen through the cracks. The initiative is also supposed to include 200 new Sanitation Department workers, new shifts for Park Department cleaning crews, more pickups at street litter baskets, and more sewer inspections — all paid for with $14.5 million in new funding, the mayor said.

And a source told Streetsblog it will mean better cleaning of bridge garbage cans, so our old man editor took the above picture as he biked across the Kosciuszko Bridge yesterday morning.

We’re not sure why the mayor thinks he needs such a huge initiative. Just last month, Gothamist was reporting that Hizzoner felt that only 1.5 percent of the city’s streets were “filthy.” (Well, maybe now that the election has passed, he can be more honest?)

In other news:

• We’re all for maximizing car-free space, but is the DOT serious about making Grand Army Plaza car-free? Gothamist had the scoop of the day, but we’ll wait before we start celebrating.
• Don’t forget that volunteers will finish building Apolline’s Garden on Sunday in Fort Greene. We took a picture yesterday and it’s ready for painting:

• Carnage filled the daily papers yesterday:
  • The Daily News had more on the two truck drivers who were killed on Wednesday about a mile apart in Queens in separate incidents.
  • A hit-and-run FedEx driver struck, dragged and killed a pedestrian in Windsor Terrace on Thursday. Cops say they are looking for him (NYDN, NY Post). Only amNY pointed out that the crash occurred at the very location where Mayor Adams promised on Jan. 19 to make roads safer.
  • A cabbie struck by another hit-and-run driver last year has died of his injuries. (NYDN)
  • A car driver killed a scooter rider in Brooklyn. No charges, of course. (NYDN)
• The long shuttered ferry stop in Greenpoint will reopen. (amNY)
• Political writer Steve Witt has left journalism for the Adams administration. (PoliticsNY)
• Speaking of the suburbs, here’s something that made us think about how much better density is than sprawl:

• And, finally, never mind the bollards…