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Staten Island Group Given $136K to Clean Up Local Streets

By Nicholas Rizzi | September 19, 2014 4:34pm | Updated on September 22, 2014 8:53am
 Council members Vincent Ignizio and Steven Matteo allocated $136,000 to Where to Turn to clean litter, debris and graffiti in their districts.
Council members Vincent Ignizio and Steven Matteo allocated $136,000 to Where to Turn to clean litter, debris and graffiti in their districts.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

STATEN ISLAND — Staten Island City  Council members gave a local group $136,000 to clean up litter and more from their neighborhood's streets.

Council members Vincent Ignizio and Steven Matteo each gave $68,000 to Where to Turn to clean litter, debris and graffiti in their districts, part of the Council's citywide cleanup initiative.

"At the beginning of the year, we all started to notice the uptick in graffiti and litter in out neighborhoods," Matteo said in a statement.

“We have already had a lot of success with earlier efforts, and this initiative will help ensure that residential streets are free of garbage, commercial buildings are not riddled with graffiti, and that overgrowing weeds do not block sidewalks, signs, and street lights.”

Where to Turn plans to use the funds to buy equipment like weed whackers and trucks and to hire clean teams to help with snow removal.

“In the winter months, we will not only be able to help seniors,” Matteo said. “We will also keep bus shelter free from snow. Our shelters have become frozen and hazardous for far too long."

In the summer, Where to Turn started cleanups of graffiti in various neighborhoods in the borough, with the help of Matteo. The new funds will let the group keep regular, manageable, maintenance schedules at spots around the borough, Matteo said.

The group will also expand their existing programs and try to double the amount of volunteers for their snow shoveling program for seniors, said Dennis McKeon, head of Where to Turn.

This year, both council members and Borough President James Oddo announced a greater push to get rid of litter from the borough's streets. In April, Oddo announced the creation of clean teams around the borough and new campaigns to promote anti-littering.

“We share the frustration our constituents have expressed about some of the persistently unsightly areas in our communities," Ignizio said.

"This program will allow us to address those problems quickly and efficiently by directing crews to clean them up."