The minute you cross over Summit Avenue in Journal Square, you begin seeing litter everywhere – sauce-splattered containers, grease-stained napkins, broken beer bottles, all scattered on the street and sidewalks.
Litter is a big problem across Jersey City. It seems no matter where you go – whether it’s Old Bergen Road in Greenville to Bergen Avenue in McGinley Square or The Heights – someone’s trash is rolling down the street.
Ashley Caleb, the executive director of the McGinley Square Special Improvement District, said it was the “biggest complaint” among residents as she pleaded to the City Council in September for money to hire more street sweepers.
“Business can’t run in a dirty neighborhood,” Caleb said
The collective outrage has led to one important change – the McGinley Square Special Improvement District received its first budget increase in 27 years, leaving the organization enough to hire street cleaners that scrub the neighborhood seven days a week, instead of just three days.
Although the new service was financed by increasing the fees of property owners within the district, Morgan Kulessa, owner of Wing Bar on Bergen Avenue, said it’s worth every penny.
“I’ve noticed the attention to detail – the workers take the trash out of planters and remove the papers off of lampposts,” said Kulessa, who has lived in McGinley Square for 10 years. “It was time to catch up, because we’re a growing neighborhood with more and more small businesses.”
But other residents are still “screaming” for solutions. That was the word Councilman-at-large Daniel Rivera used at the September council meeting.
“The people are screaming from the rooftops regarding the cleanliness of this city,” Rivera said.
Journal Square has its own street cleaners near the PATH station, but the neighborhood’s fringes have become the Wild West for litterers, according to Faullin Brannon, who moved to Baldwin Avenue three years ago.
Brannon fears the problem will only worsen as hundreds of new residents move into the new developments in the neighborhood. “When I walk outside, I see trash everywhere – it messes with my mental health,” he said. “It’s not like Jersey City is one of the biggest cities, so this problem could be managed with a little effort.”
Brannon would like to see more fines levied on violating businesses, more trash bins, and better signage across the city warning against littering.
“I don’t think that’s too much to ask for,” Brannon said.
Recently, Jersey Digs surveyed the neighborhood and found a trash bin overflowing on Pavonia Avenue. Abandoned lots are a particular refuge for refuse. The county-owned parking lot on Newark Avenue and construction sites are also trouble spots. Most litter seems to come from food and drink – used forks, paper napkins, food leftovers, and containers are everywhere. A black delivery bag on Chestnut Street got caught in a gust of wind and became airborne, spinning around like that scene in the movie American Beauty.
The city government launched a problem-reporting website, SeeClickFix, eight years ago. These days, it serves as a diary for sanitation issues. Many residents who report problems have issues with Regional Industries’s garbage pickup, which if left on the curb too long can become the next day’s litter, they argue.
Others on SeeClickFix reported rats and other vermin feasting on unsecured garbage as another factor. Recycling left out in loose bins can also tumble out and disperse in the neighborhood. Even one bad actor on a block can spoil the entire streetscape.
City officials in the Department of Public Works have warned residents that sanitation workers only pick up garbage secured in bins – which is confusing as that is certainly not the case in certain neighborhoods.
But residents believe that’s not the problem. “I don’t know if the garbage contractor has a manpower issue, but I’ve witnessed a guy jump off the garbage truck and pick up the trash with it spilling everywhere,” Brannon said.
Eileen Sosa, a program specialist for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, told Brannon in an email in March that state officials were planning to meet with the city to devise a plan for cleaning up the neighborhood.
Brannon said he has reported these issues and others to Councilman Richard Boggiano, but can’t seem to get a response. Jersey Digs also attempted to reach Boggiano without success.
However, Boggiano has spoken publicly about the issue. At the council meeting in September, he recommended increasing the boundaries of the Special Improvement Districts so that street cleaners could be deployed deeper into the neighborhood.
It’s unclear whether property owners would be so willing to shoulder more costs by becoming part of a SID after facing a considerable municipal tax increase. Another possible expense coming down the pike in Journal Square is the proposed Centre Pompidou, which could be funded by increasing SID fees in Journal Square to $800 per month for some property owners, Boggiano said.
There also may be reluctance to pay for a problem that elected officials attribute to a lack of personal responsibility. Councilman Rivera reported seeing adults throwing garbage out of their cars.
“I see it all the time — it’s disgusting,” Rivera said. “We need to teach people from kindergarten how to recycle, reuse, and respect their neighborhood.”
Council President Joyce Watterman echoed that sentiment. “If people would clean up in front of their own property a lot of things would be resolved,” Watterman said. “If they learn to do that then maybe we can use those funds to do other things.”
In fairness, many of the government-owned properties in Journal Square – such as the area around the historic county courthouse and the adjacent parking lot – are the worst offenders.
In the meantime, McGinley residents are still waiting to see if the new seven-day street-sweeping schedule will be the long-awaited fix for their dilemma. Tory Aunspach, owner of Café Alyce, believes that street sweepers will never keep pace with litterers unless the city starts ticketing people for dumping garbage from their cars in places like Bergen Avenue.
“I’ve seen people open up their car doors and dump everything on their floorboards out onto the street, then pull away,” Aunsbach said. “People just don’t care.”
All that local realtor Reisha Baker knows is that when streets are free of litter, prosperity will follow.
“If you come to a district to shop and see the streets littered with trash, you’re not going to feel safe, comfortable, or welcomed,” said Baker, president of the McGinley Square Special Improvement District. “But if you go somewhere and the streets are clean, you’ll continue to shop there and tell others to go there, too.”
