“We Both From The Bronx, so I Know That You Dirty” But Why is The Bronx Dirty and Who’s Responsible for Cleaning it?

By Christina Lilavois

Trash bags and litter scattered along the streets are not an unfamiliar sight for Bronx residents. While no one wants to see trash on their morning commute, when the question of who is responsible is posed, the answer becomes a little more complicated.

Some Bronx residents believe the New York City Sanitation Department needs to improve on extending efforts to make The Bronx cleaner. Some claim landlords and business owners need to be more conscious of managing their buildings’ trash. Others point to government authorities, such as council members, the mayor, and police force, who need to strictly enforce sanitation laws and offenses.

On April 10th, 2026, Mayor Mamdani and New York residents came together and casted more than 21,000 votes on 16 initiatives to improve the sanitation and quality of life across New York City. In Soundview, cleaning illegal dumping received a total of 18,761 votes and won the City’s first Mayor’s Municipal Madness taking 67.7% of the votes.

While not every street in the Bronx is overflowing with trash, there are certain neighborhoods where cleanliness impacts the quality of life of residents. This is the case for many people living in the South Bronx, who are fed up with the lack of sanitation efforts in their community.

            “There’s not enough garbage cans or enforcement on littering. You trip over black bags or garbage that’s in the way,” says Devin Serrano, a South Bronx resident.

Across the borough there are public street signs that read $50 litter fine, yet many locals feel that no authority figures actually impose these regulations and fines. Residents’ frustrations grow as they witness the lack of sanitation law enforcement by government workers.

             “Politicians make laws, and they don’t enforce the laws. I would like to see a cop looking and checking,” says Manny Hernandez, a South Bronx resident who regularly cleans the street.

Concerns over sanitation in the Bronx have extended beyond residents and into a broader political conversation. On Sept. 29th, 2026, in a Facebook post, Nassau County Executive and Republican governor nominee, Bruce Blakeman, criticized current New York officials over trash conditions in the Bronx.  

“Piles of trash on Bronx streets are more than an eyesore. Families have to live alongside them, and small businesses have to welcome customers past them. Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani are failing on basic quality of life in neighborhoods like this.”

Other Bronx residents believe landlords and business owners play a role in contributing to the trash build up. For them, keeping the neighborhood clean is not only the Department of Sanitation’s responsibility, but theirs, too. The way property owners maintain trash inside and outside their building can also affect how much garbage stays on the sidewalks.

“I think a lot of landlords, who own the tenement buildings, do not keep up with cleaning the garbage, and that tends to bring a lot of rodents,” says Kelly McKinnon, who’s lived in the South Bronx area for decades, specifically the tenement buildings in mention.

According to the DSNY, properties with 31 or more residential units will be required to use Empire Bins. However, Empire Bins are only in use in Manhattan’s District 9 community, with the program expanding to Brooklyn’s District 2 in fall of 2026. The department plans to have Empire Bins citywide in five years, in 2032.

For some long-standing Bronx residents, it can feel defeating to see other parts of the city receive the treatment that their own communities need. That feeling of being overlooked has also been acknowledged by city officials. In 2025 at a press conference at the NYC Mayor’s Office, Deputy Mayor Camille Joseph Varlack said, “For too long, the South Bronx has had to deal with their challenges alone,” also stating that the city had been guided by “community-driven solutions to ensure that no neighborhood is overlooked or undeserved.”

For residents, the issue goes beyond simply seeing trash on the sidewalk. That feeling of neglect is not only visible in the streets, but can also shape residents’ self-perception. Some say the condition of their community affects how residents feel about themselves as well as the value they believe the city sees in their neighborhood.

“Maybe a clean area would change people’s attitude as well. When you live around an area where there’s trash, sometimes people get the mindset they are trash. If elected officials don’t care about us, people won’t care about themselves,” says McKinnon.

Bronx locals feel unseen and frustrated with how long these issues have persisted in their communities. Gloria McKinnon, a long-standing South Bronx resident, speaks on the community mindset as to how long residents can continue to keep vocalizing their complaints without seeing change.

“It’s been a while. It’s been years. You can only talk for so much, who’s going to listen, and who’s going to do whatever they gotta do,” says Gloria McKinnon.

This frustration arises from seeing the same problems over years and no new results.

Moreover, there is a disconnect between what the city’s sanitation statistics report and what the residents see. According to the DSNY Street Sweeping Report from January to June 2026, sanitation workers completed 93%-95% of mechanized sweeping routes in Bronx Districts 1,2, and 3, which are major areas of District 17. However, some South Bronx residents claim they have not seen street cleaner trucks in years.

“I think I’ve never seen the truck that cleans the sidewalk. I hardly seen them for years,” says Hernandez.

While the data shows that most of the street cleaning routes in the South Bronx are being completed, that is not the reality residents experience in their neighborhoods.

Fortunately, according to the DSNY, the next districts scheduled to receive Empire Bins are Bronx Districts 2 and 5. In addition, the DSNY offers programs for New Yorkers who want to take more deliberate efforts to keeping their city clean. Some of these programs include the Bronx Summer Cleanup Series, the NYC Big Spring Clean, as well as a Trash Academy for New Yorkers who are “passionate about creating a cleaner and more sustainable city.” More information can be found at https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/programs.

While Bronx locals have different opinions as to the cause of the trash build up and the strategy for how to combat it, all the complaints lead back to the same road of improving the quality of life for Bronx communities.

If you are bothered by an illegal dumping ground, call 311 or your local elected official.