Task Force: Public Sanitation in NYC

Congratulations!

The NYC Public Sanitation Committee has recruited you to help mitigate issues of public sanitation in the city. Your goal is to combat post-pandemic obstacles associated with maintaining the city’s sanitation standards.

Why Are We Doing This?

In NYC, the public sanitation budget was dropped by more than $100 million in 2021. NY residents were shocked to see a decrease rather than an increase after concerns of COVID-19 continued to impact city life. Your goal is to design a public sanitation plan or program that will help address issues that have risen during and after the pandemic.

Steps

1. Research current and past public sanitation programs in NYC. What issues did they aim to combat and address? Were they effective? How? 
   1. What are the main responsibilities of the NYC sanitation department? 
      1. Is there anything you are surprised to learn is a program of the sanitation department? 
   2. Are there any important laws or regulations that govern the work of the sanitation department that you need to consider when designing your program? 
   3. How has the pandemic changed standards of sanitation in NYC and other cities?
   4. What would you change about current programs? 
   5. Are there any programs that have worked well in other cities that could be implemented in New York City? 
2. Now, design your new program or initiative
   1. What pandemic-related issues will you address and how?
   2. What issues not related to the pandemic will you seek to reform? Explain. 
   3. Name 3 goals that your program aims to achieve. 
   4. Think through the possible objections about your public sanitation initiatives that opposers might have.  
3. Share with the group and see if you can convince them that your public sanitation goals will best achieve a cleaner NYC. 

Things to Keep in Mind:

• You do not have to come up with an exhaustive list of procedures for your plan. It’s better to come up with a few requirements that you feel confident with and spend time thinking through possible objections to it.
• You don’t have to worry about answering all possible objections, but you should have some defense of why you think your reasons are more important.
• Your requirements should be things that governments could realistically implement.