Dromm secures thousands of dollars in funding to keep Jackson Heights and Elmhurst clean
NYC Council Finance Chair, Daniel Dromm, has successfully secured thousands of dollars in Fiscal Year 2021 funding to keep the streets and sidewalks of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst clean.
Dromm allocated $160,000 to the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless, Inc. for 128 hours of supplemental cleaning services each week.
ACE employees are now regularly sweeping community streets and sidewalks, periodically removing taped flyers from lampposts, and emptying City trash bins to prevent them from overflowing.
ACE has resumed cleaning services in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst while wearing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and adhering to social distancing practices to keep workers and local residents safe.
“These thousands of dollars in funding mean a cleaner Jackson Heights and Elmhurst for everyone,” said Dromm.
“We are in the middle of a financial crisis. The restoration of these dollars was not easy. I fought long and hard to ensure that my district receives the funding we need to continue these important services.
“I want to thankACE for their impeccable work which keeps our streets and sidewalks clean,” he added.
ACE employees will clean along Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenue from 69th Street to 81st Street; 73rd Street through 77th Street between Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenue; Broadway from 72nd Street to Elmhurst Avenue; and Diversity Plaza.
Dromm also secured $30,000 that will enable the NYC Department of Sanitation to conduct additional weekend garbage pick-ups along Broadway from 69th Street to Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, and additional Saturday pick-ups along 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights.
“These additional picks-ups will help reduce trash bin overflows in my district’s busy commercial corridors during hours that see high foot traffic,”Dromm continued.
“Overflowing trash bins are not only unsightly–they attract rats, sicken our pets and wildlife, and contribute to water contamination.
“There is no denying that strewn trash has an adverse impact on our environmental and public health,” he explained.
He stated further that the de Blasio administration has made significant cuts to the Department of Sanitation’s budget, creating an urgent need for these dollars.
He stressed that the bottomline is that his constituents need and deserve a clean neighborhood.
“The funding I successfully secured makes that a reality,” he said.
Founded in 1992, ACE works with homeless men and women throughout New York City, providing job training, work experience and a lifetime support network to help our program participants achieve their goals and establish economic independence.
Today, ACE has grown to serve more than 600 people each year with workforce development; Adult Basic Education and job readiness/life skills training in their vocational rehabilitation program, Project Comeback; lifetime support services and opportunities for career growth in their aftercare program, Project Stay; and access to affordable housing through one of their more recent initiatives, Project Home.
Since 1992, they have helped over 3,000 New Yorkers overcome homelessness, incarceration and addiction to find full-time jobs and start new lives.
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