At the end of every winter, as the snow melts, discarded litter appears, especially on the city’s West Side. This year appears to be especially troubling for some reason. Parts of the West Side are a mess. Whether it’s due to the cold snap that is lasting longer than usual, or strong winds in recent weeks, a number of the streets and sidewalks are in bad shape.

Just yesterday, a Buffalo Rising reader reached out to me saying that he recently hosted some visitors from out of town. The visitors spent a lot of time exploring the city, which they loved. At the same time, they couldn’t believe how much trash and litter was strewn along the streets and the sidewalks of Allentown and the West Side.

I’ve been walking these same streets with my dog, and I’ve noticed a lot more litter/trash than normal. I reached out to Niagara District Council Member David Rivera who had this to say:

“Assembly member Sean Ryan and I are sponsoring an inaugural Grant Street clean-up on April 14 (see Facebook event). Beyond the clean-up, we have been working with our Department of Public Works to increase the frequency of our commercial street sweeping vehicle to visit Grant and Ferry, in addition to the Mayor’s Clean Sweep initiative. Littering is illegal. It is a matter of law enforcement catching a litter in the act. Trash in front of a home is easy to enforce as it is the property owner’s responsibility for maintaining the property. Code Enforcement and Police do issue tickets for excessive trash in front of a property. The best way for someone to report this is through calling 311 Call and Resolution Center.”

Rivera also wants to know if the community has any ideas about how to further tackle the issue of excessive trash and litter on the streets and sidewalks. Do we need “No Littering” signs, along with broadcasting penalties? The signs could even prompt people to call 311 if the property warrants. Are there groups out there that need to work community service hours? There needs to be a stepped up effort to keep our residential and commercial streets clean.

Inaugural Grant Street Clean Up | Saturday, April 14 | 9:30am to 11:30am | Meet at 65 Grant Street | Coffee provided, along with light lunch after the event | Limited supplies available – bring rakes, gloves, garbage bags, etc.

If you live on the West Side, consider taking part in the Grant Street cleanup, or even organizing a cleanup on your own street to expand the effort.