New York—Today, Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito announced a partnership with the Doe Fund to bring the Cleanup NYC Initiative to District 8 in East Harlem and the South Bronx.
Through Cleanup NYC, the Doe Fund supplements the city’s sanitation efforts by providing cleaning services to New York’s streets and sidewalks, including litter removal, recycling programs, graffiti removal, snow shoveling, and tree maintenance. In addition to beautifying local communities, The Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing, and Able transitional work program has created over 100 new jobs for formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals, providing them with the career development and skills training needed to compete effectively in the workforce and procure long- term employment.
“I am so pleased to partner with The Doe Fund to help beautify East Harlem and the South Bronx,” said Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito. “Through the Cleanup NYC Initiative, The Doe Fund will ensure that residents enjoy the vibrancy of the neighborhood they call home while also welcoming visitors to experience all this community has to offer. This program also provides invaluable work experience and training for New Yorkers seeking stable employment in our city’s workforce. I thank the Doe Fund for collaborating with the New York City Council to make our streets cleaner and greener.”
In the Fiscal Year 2015 budget, the New York City Council allocated $3.5 million for the Cleanup NYC Initiative to fund supplemental sanitation efforts across the city. Each day, Doe Fund workers clean 170 miles of New York City streets and sidewalks, making our neighborhoods more beautiful and safer while rebuilding their lives and the lives of their families. In District 8, $68,627 was allocated to the Doe Fund to administer the Cleanup NYC Initiative in East Harlem and the South Bronx, starting in October 2014.
The areas and times for cleaning in District 8 will be cleaning are as follows:

• 3rd Ave, 104th Street to 116th Street (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday)
• 116th St, 1st Avenue – Park Avenue (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday)
• 138th St, Alexander Avenue – St. Anne’s Avenue (Saturday & Wednesday) BRONX

“The Speaker knows the value and importance of providing opportunity to people. She believes in it. And this is just another example of how she puts it into practice. Thanks to her and her leadership, we’ve been able to create over 100 new jobs for New Yorkers in need. And we have the honor of cleaning and caring for neighborhoods and districts like this one as a result. The “men in blue” who will service District 8 are on the first step of their journeys to self-sufficiency, to opportunity, and to prosperity. Thanks to the Speaker, they will get there, bringing along their families and their communities,” said George T. McDonald, Founder and President of The Doe Fund.
“The NYC Cleanup Initiative is an unprecedented effort by the City Council to beautify our communities all across the city. The Doe Fund’s work supplements services already provided by the Department of Sanitation, and simultaneously helps those in need develop skills and find jobs. Their work through this initiative has resulted in a notable change on Broadway in my district, and I’m glad to see that work being replicated here and throughout the city,” said Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management.
“Cleanup NYC is improving the quality of life of all New Yorkers by keeping our streets cleaner and providing jobs to people who need them. Funding this initiative and others like it is important to this Council, and I’m proud to have played a role in making it happen,” said Council Member Julissa Ferreras, Chair of the Committee on Finance.

“I am grateful to the Speaker for her leadership in pushing for cleaner streets. The Cleanup NYC initiative is not only beautifying our city but is also providing jobs to individuals transitioning into new careers and developing skills for a better future. I am thankful for the DOE Fund’s continued dedication to New York City and am proud to partner with them on this wonderful new initiative,” said Council Member David Greenfield.
“I want to thank Speaker Mark- Viverito and the entire City Council for bringing the Clean Up NYC Initiative to East Harlem” said David Nocenti, Executive Director of Union Settlement Association and Chair of the East Harlem Community Alliance. “East Harlem is filled with wonderful small businesses and vibrant commercial corridors, and it will be great to have The Doe Fund employees helping us to keep the sidewalks and streets clean, and thereby encourage more people to visit and shop here.”

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