The city’s newest addition to the anti-litter brigade

The city’s newest addition to the litter patrol is a Street Condition Observation Unit, or SCOUT. (Not sure where the “T” comes in…)

SCOUT is made up of 15 staffers in three-wheeled scooters who will visit every city street each month, recording and reporting on litter, illegal dumping and overflowing litter baskets, along with fallen trees, damaged bus stops, potholes, etc. The SCOUT patrol cannot issue violations, but they are equipped with GPS devices to send the locations of trouble areas to the Department of Sanitation. The new unit has begun to make its rounds, and is supposed to be in full swing by the end of the year.