NYC faces illegal dumping crisis

NEW YORK - FOX 5 NY saw first hand the terrible eyesore and stench from an illegal dumping site on Hoe Avenue and 163rd Street in the Longwood section of the Bronx. Less than 24 hours after our story aired, it was cleaned up. But we didn't have to look far to find other spots where bags of garbage were just dumped.

"Illegal dumping is definitely on the rise," Acting Commissioner of Sanitation Edward Grayson said. "It's a sad byproduct of the COVID realities of New York."

Grayson said that over recent months during the pandemic, changes in work, school, and lifestyle, plus a lot more deliveries have created much more garbage—tons of it. 

"We have less bandwidth to get to it as timely as we used to, with the recent round of budget cuts," he said. "So we're out there, we're doing our job."

The Sanitation Department has a reward program for tipsters who can provide information and license plate numbers of those dumping garbage illegally. They can receive cash rewards of up to 50% of the fines, which can be as high as $40,000.

You report illegal dumping by calling 311 or going to nyc.gov/dsny.