Prospect Heights loses its once-a-week street cleaning pilot

Drivers on a handful of Prospect Heights blocks are back to moving their cars twice a week for street sweepers after an eight-week Sanitation Department experiment did not pan out.

From Aug. 3 through Sept. 25, DSNY required vehicles on the pilot streets to move only once a week for alternate-side cleaning, at the request of Council Member Crystal Hudson. The pilot covered streets between roughly Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway, from Vanderbilt to Grand and Washington avenues, including Pacific, Dean and Bergen streets, St. Marks Avenue, Prospect Place, Park Place and Underhill Avenue, according to Hudson's office.

What the numbers showed

Compliance with the remaining cleaning day fell from 73% to 62%, Hudson told Gothamist. Gothamist reported that DSNY issued 455 alternate-side tickets in the month before the pilot and 913 over the pilot period, even though enforcement days were cut in half. Streetsblog, citing DSNY data, reported that inspectors also found streets and sidewalks less clean during the test.

"It's definitely a disappointment," Hudson told Streetsblog. She has argued that twice-a-week rules in her district are unfair when nearby neighborhoods like Park Slope often have one cleaning day per side.

What's next

Hudson's office says regular ASP rules are back in full effect and that DSNY will review the compliance data before deciding whether to extend anything. A DSNY spokesperson told Streetsblog that residents can still ask for schedule changes through their community boards, which need sign-off from Sanitation and Transportation.