"We Basically Have This Down To A Science": Sanitation Crews Collect Up To 40 Tons Of New Year's Eve Debris

The moment the clock struck midnight to herald 2022, hundreds of New York City Department of Sanitation workers were on hand to start clearing Times Square of confetti, novelty glasses, and other New Year's Eve debris. And, in spite of a "smaller" crowd of 15,000, sanitation crews still planned to pick up a massive amount of garbage.

"Year over year, we would get, pre-pandemic, 65 tons during [New Year's] clean-up," Sanitation Commissioner Ed Grayson told Gothamist. "This year, we're going to expect 30 to 40 tons."

He added, "There's nothing better than the crowd having a party, it shows New York is back."

Interestingly, during the "crowd-less" New Year's on January 1, 2021, Grayson said crews still collected 20 tons of debris.

"It's the same amount of confetti, same footprint, it's the same amount of cleaning leading into the event," he said.

As part of their strategy, workers with backpack blowers move the confetti from the sidewalks and into the streets, where a fleet of mechanical broom trucks are waiting. The mechanical broom has side brooms that sweep confetti and other trash towards a "pick-up" broom, which then collects it into a hopper. When it's full, the mechanical broom driver pulls up to a collection truck and dumps everything in there.

The mechanical broom operators make countless circles, picking up as much as they can.

But whatever the mechanical brooms can't pick up, sanitation workers with regular hand brooms are at work.

"It evolves every year," Grayson said of the clean-up plan, "but we basically have this down to a science, how many mechanical brooms we need for an optimal clean, and how many people we can bring in here."

He estimated the cleanup operation at the heart of Times Square, where the crowds were, to wrap up by 8 a.m. Saturday, which the side "feeder" streets would take a little longer. But New Yorkers could see some stray pieces of confetti in the days to come.

"When they start blowing that confetti, it lands what it lands, and it lands on top of billboards... and we wind up cleaning into the next week!" Grayson said.