Borough Park

Borough Park sidewalks getting a clean sweep

January 7, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Local elected officials and Community Board 12 leaders join Project Sweep workers at the launch of the anti-litter program on 18th Avenue. Photo courtesy Felder’s office
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With help from $100,000 in state funding provided by state Sen. Simcha Felder, the sidewalks in Borough Park are looking a lot cleaner these days.

Felder recently held a press conference on 18th Avenue and 50th Street to announce that Project Sweep, a citywide program that hires unemployed people to clean sidewalks in commercial zones, was coming to the Borough Park.

Project Sweep workers are now cleaning the sidewalks in three of the busiest commercial areas in southern Brooklyn: 13th, 16th and 18th Avenues. The Midwood Development Corporation is administering the program, which began operating in Borough Park in late December. Project Sweep has been keeping Midwood tidy for nearly 25 years.

Felder, who obtained $100,000 from the state budget to fund Project Sweep’s expansion into Borough Park, said the program is good for everyone, not just store owners.

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“A pristine, litter-free commercial area instills community pride and encourages more people to visit and shop – a win for the neighborhood,” Felder (D-Borough Park-Midwood) said. “I’m pleased to be able to provide clean streets and at the same time provide an employment opportunity for adults who want to give back to the community. With this project, the shopper will enjoy shopping, the shop owner will experience pride of ownership; all will benefit from the fresh, expansive feeling of well-being wrought by a clean environment.”

Assemblymember Dov Hikind (D-Borough Park-Midwood), Councilmember David Greenfield (Borough Park-Midwood-parts of Bensonhurst), Community Board 12 Chairman Yidel Perlstein and Board 12 District Manager Barry Spitzer all came to the Project Sweep launch on 18th Avenue.

Hikind called it “an amazing program that will help the community in a very positive way.”

Greenfield said Project Sweep is important.

“This is the community that we play in, that we live in and the cleanliness of our streets is really paramount,” he said.

The grocery manager of Goldberg’s Supermarket on 18th Avenue said he was impressed.

“Project Sweep has been in effect for one week and I’ve already noticed a difference,” he said.

Project Sweep started in 1990. Other Brooklyn areas where Project Sweep is operating include the Pitkin Avenue, Newkirk Plaza, and Cortelyou Road. News 12 Brooklyn reported that the grant provided by Felder enabled Project Sweep to hire a crew of nine workers to clean the streets in Borough Park.

Project Sweep workers are on the job on 13th, 16th, and 18th Avenues from McDonald Avenue to 60th Street every Monday through Friday.

“We will make this neighborhood, clean, safe and beautiful, while at the same time giving people gainful employment. As everyone knows, a clean neighborhood is a safe neighborhood,” Felder said.

 

 


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