Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Gracious Home Leaves UWS Block Strewn With Heaps of Trash After Closing

By Emily Frost | December 21, 2016 6:03pm | Updated on December 22, 2016 11:47am
 Gracious Home garbage was found littered along West 68th Street. 
Gracious Home Garbage
View Full Caption

UPPER WEST SIDE — Gracious Home was not so gracious in its departure from West 68th Street.

Trash from the now-shuttered home-goods store was seen strewn over more than half the length of the street's south side between Columbus Avenue and Broadway on Wednesday.

The discarded items included Gracious Home mailing labels, bags, packing tape, invoices, stickers and receipts, as well as boxes addressed to the company.

The trash was not contained in bags or shipping containers, but instead appeared to have been dumped right onto the sidewalk, narrowing the area pedestrians had to travel. 

"Not gracious," resident Roberta Katz, who reported seeing the trash on the sidewalk as early as Monday, wrote in an email.

"It would have been gracious for them to donate to a shelter and/or leave tables outside the store with a sign that says FREE," she added.

The store began a closeout sale in November and officially shuttered on Dec. 14 after 18 years at 1992 Broadway, West Side Rag reported. That same week, Gracious Home filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a second time. 

Katz noted that the mess leaves a lot of work for the city's Sanitation Department.

"The trash was so unsightly; it spread down the block as people were sifting through!" she said. 

Gracious Home did not respond to a request for comment. 

Department of Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis said in an email Thursday that residents should contact 311 and report the conditions. 

"Every merchant, commercial establishment, business, etc., is obligated to dispose of its garbage in a legal manner," he said, outlining the rules regarding commercial establishments disposing of waste.

"A merchant, commercial establishment, business, etc., can either arrange with a private carter to have its garbage collected, or obtain a 'Self-Hauler' registration from the Business Integrity Commission and transport the garbage in a vehicle with commercial license plates.”

Mellis did not say whether Gracious Home would face any repercussions as a result of the garbage.