The cameras help prevent people from illegally dumping in the Bronx.
Due to its great effectiveness, this Friday Councilman Rafael Salamanca together with the commissioner of the city’s Sanitation Department, Jessica Tisch, announced the installation of 15 new cameras in the South Bronx.
“We as New Yorkers and here in the Bronx want our streets to be clean and unfortunately we have a lot of people who don’t care about the quality of our lives in our communities,” Salamanca said.
A problem that affects the commercial and industrial sectors, where it is common to dump construction waste, added the councilman.
“Today I was proud to join @NYCSanitation Commissioner Tisch, @2_bronx and community leaders in announcing funding for 15 illegal dumping surveillance cameras that will catch bad guys in the act and impose a $4K fine and impound their vehicles. We want cleaner streets now!” The councilman wrote in a message on social networks about the event.
Today I was proud to join @NYCSanitation commissioner table, @2_bronx and community leaders to announce the funding for 15 illegal dumping surveillance cameras that will catch bad actors in the act and impose a $4k fine and impound their vehicles. We want cleaner streets now! pic.twitter.com/urXfbOq7rL
– Rafael Salamanca (@CMSalamancaJr) July 15, 2022
But they will put a strong hand on those criminals…
Commissioner Tisch said those caught illegally dumping will have to pay a $4,000 fine and risk arrest and having their vehicle impounded.
“And this is a crime against our community and the Department of Sanitation, under my leadership it will not be tolerated anymore,” Tisch said.
The commissioner added that these cameras will not be fixed, but will move through different parts of the neighborhoods.
To install them, Councilman Salamanca assigned a budget of 180 thousand dollars. An initiative that area residents had been waiting for decades.
“We are hoping that the streets look cleaner, and that one can come to cross the street to the park and not have garbage smells,” said Roberto Crespo, president of community board two in the Bronx.
“I see it as a very important project for the community and for the Hunts Point area, because that way we have a healthy, clean community,” said Rafael Antigua Pena, a resident of Hunts Point.
This comes after Mayor Erick Adams’ cleanup plan, which began in late June. Under this project, according to Commissioner Tisch, some 50 surveillance cameras have been installed, more than 15,000 garbage cans have been added to the city’s corners and streets, and alternative parking has been restored.
And this is just the beginning. The city government plans to install hundreds of these cameras in every county in the next few years.
Already in the South Bronx there are 9 in operation and the remaining five are in the process of being installed.
