Around the nation, the economic crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is causing the collapse of vital public services, as budgets are slashed and personnel laid off.
Take the case of New York City, where the Sanitation Department’s budget was slashed by $25 million last July, resulting in a 60% reduction in garbage collection around the city. The situation has gotten so bad that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is now threatening to send in the National Guard to collect the trash, arguing that Mayor Bill de Blasio is not doing anything to solve the problem. Regardless of whatever is going on between Cuomo and De Blasio, the essential point is that this is now a serious health crisis affecting the city’s residents—especially its most vulnerable.
