Restaurants Contend with Trash Mess as Bags Ripped Open

Photo: Boogie reader Porkchop
With outdoor dining and a sanitation slowdown, overflowing trash around the neighborhood has become a bonanza for area homeless.
Readers report that homeless are tearing open trash bags placed curbside for pickup, leaving behind a smorgasbord of refuse. And a liability for restaurants.
Sugar Sweet Sunshine hit the news last week after surveillance cameras caught a man sifting through garbage bags late night in its dining corral on Rivington Street. The contents were strewn onto the ground. Co-owner Debbie Weiner shared the experience on Instagram.
Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier this year trimmed more than $21 million for waste basket pickup from the Sanitation Department budget amid the fiscal crisis fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. This meant reducing service from seven to three days a week.