For years, I’ve been photographing the garbage/litter on Grant Street, wondering what it would take to clean up the mess. For some reason, Grant Street is constantly in deplorable state because people simply throw their garbage out car windows, and drop wrappers as they stroll about.

Earlier this year, the mess was so bad that a community cleanup was organized. Volunteers took to the street to clean up the neighborhood, but eventually the litter returned (as it always does). Now normally, it would be up to the business owners to keep the sidewalks in front of their businesses clean, but for some reason many of the business owners along Grant (especially towards the corner of Ferry) could not be bothered to clean their frontage.

Last year, Assemblyman Sean Ryan opened an office on Grant Street (see here). Since moving in, Ryan has become aware of the litter issues on the street. Besides co-sponsoring the spring clean-up, Ryan has now come up with another idea that he feels will help to keep the street clean. Earlier today, Ryan announced a new Grant Street Anti-litter campaign, featuring a series of signs that encourage residents not to litter. The signs, printed in English, Spanish, and Burmese, will be affixed to lamp posts, and storefronts. Personally, I was hoping that the signs would broadcast a fine for anyone caught littering. Instead of using a “stick”, Ryan chose to use a “carrot”, which is fine. At least it’s a start in the right direction. At some point, it would be great to see a couple of signs warning that fines will be imposed upon litterbugs.

To add to the impact, Ryan is also handing out brooms and dustpans to business owners, in hopes that they help to keep the street tidy. For years, the trash strewn about on Grant Street has been abominable. Thankfully there is one person who is willing to figure out proactive ways to curb the debris, and that’s Sean Ryan. Hopefully his message will spread throughout the corridor. If it doesn’t maybe try the “stick” instead.

Buffalo Common Council Member David Rivera and Grant Street business owners will be participating in this campaign.