By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — It sticks to your feet, dirties the sidewalks and reflects badly on the manners of New Yorkers.
But chewing gum doesn’t have to be a long-term blight on Manhattan sidewalks — not if GumBusters Executive Director Anthony Mulé has anything to say about it.
The company, based in New York and New Jersey, uses a mix of steam, water and environmentally friendly chemicals to strip flattened blobs of aging gum off of city sidewalks.
In addition to providing their services to hotels, restaurants and other venues, GumBusters sells their gum-removal machines (housed in vacuum-like canisters) to independent operators.
Is there such a thing as a gum 911?
Sometimes, Mulé said, restaurants will request help shortly before their franchise inspections, or hotels will dial ahead of a VIP guest’s arrival.
“I’ll get some very urgent calls from those types of places,” he said.
The work is done day or night, and Mulé asserts that the process is gentle to concrete and does not obstruct foot traffic. It does, however, occasionally cause bemused passersby to stop and snap photos.
“Most of my employees and myself find this job to be very interesting and rewarding,” Mulé said. “It’s kind of like cleaning up the sidewalk, you get a sense of pride.”