Probably to the relief of Co-Op City residents, the Department of Health ordered the Department of Sanitation to remove tons of trash from the Bronx housing complex. Building workers have been on strike since Tuesday, claiming that RiverBay management wants to freeze their wages and walked away from negotiations, while RiverBay says that Local 32BJ was the one to walk away.
Co-Op City is the largest cooperative housing development in the world. With 50,000-60,000 residents, 40 tons (yes, just 40, not 40,000) of trash is accumulated each day. One resident sighed as she spoke to the Daily News, "It's always something at Co-op City. They cut our bus lines. Our rents went up two years in a row. Now they won't give these people the health care they need. There's raccoons and possums and all kinds of wildlife coming out to eat, and the hotter it gets, the more it stinks."
Public Advocate Bill deBlasio and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. rallied in support of the union, but RiverBay retorted, "We recognize the political potency of 32BJ in New York City elections and fund-raising. But the elected officials who took part in today's rally never spoke to anyone at the RiverBay Corp. and do not have all the facts in this labor impasse."
