Litter complaints in New York have skyrocketed, with the Brooklyn borough the biggest offender

The Big Apple is getting pretty bad.

From Sept. 21, 2023 to Sept. 20, the city’s 311 system received a whopping 41,023 complaints about litter on sidewalks — a nearly 250 percent increase from 11,813 during the same period four years ago, and a 30 percent increase from 31,890 last year year After checking the data, the city is found.

Kings County leads the trash heap with the most complaints about litter on sidewalks.

Residents in the 11226 ZIP code, which includes Flatbush, logged more 311 complaints to the hotline than anywhere else in the Stink Apple, data obtained by The Post show.

The neighborhood racked up an incredible 986 complaints, while the borough as a whole received 15,128 complaints, a 66% increase on last year’s 11,413.

“Just looking on any street or any corner, you’ll see piles of trash and it’ll stay there for days because it seems like the trash guys aren’t picking it up for whatever reason,” said Maika, a Flatbush native. Eugene

“It’s almost as if complaints are perceived with closed eyes,” continues 24-year-old Yevgeny. “Compared to other parts of Brooklyn, there’s a lot more trash here.”

Joan Mercurius, who has lived in the zip code for 25 years, blamed litter-filled sidewalks for bringing vermin into her apartment.

“The garbage is terrible, and then the rats come. I get them in my apartment and they’re all over the streets — it’s all over the place because of this trash,” Mercurius, 79, told The Post, pointing to a pile of trash on Nostrand Avenue.

“People throw their rubbish around and sometimes the bin won’t pick it up, so sometimes it’s left there for weeks or months,” raged David Gallimore.

“It’s humiliating,” Gallimore, 60, said. “There’s no way we’re going to live like this, man.”

The section of Cortelio Road in the 11226 ZIP, which runs from Dahill Road to Schenectady Avenue, had the most 311 complaints of sidewalk litter of any street in the city (221).

Councilwoman Rita Joseph, whose Brooklyn district covers part of the 11226 ZIP code, said litter is “one of our top complaints that we get from constituents.

“It’s important that city agencies like (the sanitation department) develop a comprehensive plan on how to address sanitation issues in high-need areas,” she said.

Manhattan had the second most complaints (9,683), followed by Queens (8,248), the Bronx (6,562) and Staten Island (1,396).

Manhattan’s 10011 ZIP code, home to Chelsea and Greenwich Village, was the second dirtiest ZIP code citywide with 882 complaints, followed by 10468 in the Bronx, which includes Kingsbridge, Marble Hill and Fordham Manor, with 787 complaints.

“We’ve made a big push to get our constituents to call 311, and it’s good that they’re doing that, but our city needs to make a lot of progress on sanitation,” said Councilman Eric Boettcher, who represents part of the 10011 ZIP.

Bottcher also said his office is contacting the Sanitation Department about illegal dumping and the lack of trash cans on street corners.

Over the past 12 months, Sanitaria recorded 992,192 cleanliness violations, which is 8% more than a year ago and 335% more than in the same period of 2020-2021.

The spike in complaints isn’t necessarily linked to an increase in trash citywide, according to Sanitation Department spokesman Vincent Gragnani, who also said the DSNY supported a bill passed in May that would increase fines for commercial cleanliness violations.

“We encourage all New Yorkers to call 311 and report bad conditions,” Graniani said.