#COVID-19 is no excuse for NYC to ignore graffiti and trash

Garbage and graffiti may not be the sexiest issues for campaign flyers, but they are a crucial component of New York City’s recovery from COVID-19. Let’s face it: Quality-of-life services have taken a big hit since the pandemic began. A return to normalcy must include a focus on improving quality of life in every neighborhood.

A clean and safe neighborhood is the foundation of urban fulfillment. All people need such neighborhoods, but it’s often some of the wealthiest ones that complain about the decline — even as it is low-income communities of color that have long borne the brunt.

We can start with our parks. In our densely populated city, parks have long been a popular refuge for working families. But when gyms, event spaces and other recreational facilities were closed due to COVID-19, green spaces became absolutely critical for New Yorkers seeking to exercise, play and congregate safely and free of charge.

The pandemic reminded us that our parks aren’t amenities — they are essential.

Yet our green spaces are also increasingly littered with trash, broken bottles and worse. Unsanitary conditions in parks aren’t just vile, they are a public-health hazard. Keeping our parks clean can’t be relegated to the bottom of the priority list, especially with open space in such high demand.

Similarly, the post-COVID-19 city budget slashed trash collection citywide. Just when New Yorkers are staying in their own neighborhoods 24/7, trash is piling up, and the city is meeting that increased volume with puzzling cuts to the Department of Sanitation. Amid a health crisis, we need clean, safe streets. That should be nonnegotiable.

Corporate leaders from across the five boroughs recently penned a letter to Mayor de Blasio urging him to address these quality-of-life issues. A similar request went to the White House.

Wealthy New Yorkers also have long invested personal funds into park conservatories that pay for everything from landscaping to trash removal in well-heeled neighborhoods.

But what about everyone and everywhere else?

The upkeep of our local parks, streets and sidewalks shouldn’t be left to the whims of philanthropists. It’s disheartening that millions of New Yorkers lack easy access to parks, and residents are taking matters into their own hands due to a lack of leadership.

For example, the One Block Brooklyn initiative is empowering citizens to clean up their own blocks, and in Flatbush, elected officials are partnering with the city to save our streets.

Meanwhile, in southern Brooklyn, constituents are organizing neighborhood cleanups in partnership with their elected officials. And after the sanitation cuts, there was such an outcry from some neighborhoods that individual council members had no choice but to tap into their own discretionary budgets, normally used to fund local nonprofit social-service organizations, to keep the streets and sidewalks clean.

But all this only goes to show that public demand for better quality of life is there. So moving forward, this must be an issue at the top of the priority list for every elected official — and, ahem, all the 2021 mayoral candidates.

Quality of life may not be the issue that gets the most retweets, but it’s an issue that we should all care about. To love New York City means to do everything we can to take care of it, and to believe that all New Yorkers deserve the dignity and respect of living in a clean and safe neighborhood.

Former New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia once famously said, “There’s no Republican or Democratic way to take out the trash.” Amen to that. We need a groundswell of public support to save our city.

It’s time for the public sector — and every candidate running for office — to speak up, take action and build a community-based approach to handle these quality of life issues.

Rodneyse Bichotte represents the 42nd District, comprising Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood and Ditmas Park, in the New York state Assembly. Justin Brannan is the New York City councilman for the 43rd District, representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach.