By Carol Tannenhauser

One recent morning, a man stood on the corner of 86th and Amsterdam, holding a paper cup, wearing a sign that read, “Please help.”

That same morning, on the corner of 100th and Broadway, five other men stood, holding brooms and dustpans, wearing green uniforms with vests that read “GODDARD RIVERSIDE GREENKEEPERS.” These men had requested and received a different kind of help: paid employment, offering the support and understanding they need.

Founded in 1995, Green Keepers is Goddard Riverside Community Center’s “social purpose business.” It employs and provides on-the-job training for men and women living with mental illness, many formerly homeless, now residing in supportive housing. Green Keepers performs supplemental sanitation, horticultural and pest control services, mainly on the Upper West Side.

“Everyone is expected to give 100%, but we recognize that one person’s 100% is not the same as another’s,” said Elizabeth Ewell, business manager of Green Keepers. “We meet people where they’re at and bring them to where we can.”

Manny, one of the above crew members, has schizophrenia. Thirty years old, he had his first breakdown when he was 21. He was hospitalized by his family “four or five times” before being referred to Goddard Riverside’s outpatient “Assertive Community Treatment” (ACT) team, which provides intensive psychiatric care and on-going case management for adults with severe mental illness. A longstanding and revered Upper West Side social service agency, Goddard is known for its “continuum of care,” which worked seamlessly in Manny’s case.

“I kept telling them I needed a job,” he recalled. “My son was just born and I had to take care of him. My wife and I are in a family shelter. I needed to save money to get us an apartment.”

He smiled a smile that was impossible not to return.

“So, they got me a job,” he said.

Manny was referred to “TOP Opportunities” (TOP/OP), Goddard’s job-training and placement program. After a probationary period, he was hired by Green Keepers, earning minimum wage, currently $13.50 an hour. When WSR caught up with him, he and his fellow crew members were cleaning their way up the west side of Broadway to 106th Street. 

“It’s messy,” Manny said, “but nothing we can’t handle as a group.”

Ewell calls the Green Keepers the “Green Brotherhood.”

“These are people who have been adrift, not necessarily had anyone they could depend on,” she said. “It’s nice for them to know there are guys in green who’ve got their back. People come to us who don’t have vibrant social lives and that brotherhood is very important, even if it lasts only two hours a day. It could be the last conversation they have when they leave.”

“Another thing about the Green Brotherhood is, they self-check,” Ewell continued. “If someone steps out of line, they’ll talk to him or her.” (There are a handful of women working for Green Keepers.) “They come to understand that when they’re in uniform, they’re not just one person, they’re every other person out there wearing the uniform. This is a real job,” she stressed. “They’re employed by Goddard Riverside, just like I am. A number have gone on to private-sector employment, but the majority have stayed. Six crew members were promoted from within to crew leader positions. We also have one staff supervisor.”

Green Keepers’ customers include Broadway Mall Association, Lincoln Square B.I.D., the Riverside Park Conservancy, and a host of block and neighborhood associations, including West 77th Street, West 88th Street, and West 90th Street. “We also have some private entities,” Ewell added. “We do work on terraces, rooftops, and gardens.” Most of Green Keepers’ expenses, including wages, are covered by contracts. Green Keepers currently employs around 40 people, with a waiting list to be hired.

The way things are going, it should move fast.

“In the past few years, we have had a growth spurt, as a result of our involvement with several citywide initiatives made available to us through our local Councilwoman, Helen Rosenthal,” said Deborah Kaplan, Director of Employment and Rehabilitation Programs at Goddard Riverside. “As a result of Clean Streets NYC, we are providing year-round, five-day-a-week, supplemental sanitation services to the Upper West Side.”

Sarah Crean, Rosenthal’s communications director, explained that every council member has access to Clean Streets NYC funding. Rosenthal is directing her full allocation this year —$220,000 — to Green Keepers. “Our office sits down with them regularly and, based on information from our constituents and staff, we identify areas that should be top priority in terms of cleaning,” Crean said. “Last year’s special cleaning targets were: Broadway between 70th and 86th (on Mondays, focusing on 70th to 79th); 72nd between Columbus and Broadway; Verdi Square; Broadway between 90th and 96th; and the northern end of the district, 106th and below. Possible targets for this fiscal year include new sections of Broadway and Amsterdam.”

Rosenthal is also directing all of her allocated Greener NYC funds — $70,000 — to Green Keepers to perform not just the sanitation and beautification of several NYCHA buildings in the neighborhood, but the all-important job of rat control.

“We are serving NYCHA buildings because of Helen’s support,” Ewell said. “NYCHA’s not paying us.”

“What’s especially important to Helen is that Green Keepers is a local group, creating jobs for folks who might find it difficult to secure employment,” Crean explained. “It also helps to address a concern constituents raise all the time, which is keeping the neighborhood as clean as it can possibly be. It’s a win-win (win).”

WSR visited another Green Keepers crew, this one cleaning up Broadway from 90th to 96th, then, the subway plaza, then, back down Broadway to 90th. A worker named Jerry asked if he could say something:

“This is an experience where everybody talks positive, instead of negative from the past. At the same time, there’s making those little ends meet — the money you earn.”

“I love working for Green Keepers,” a man named Jarlin joined in. “Just coming to work every day is like a routine now that I got,” he said. “I wake up a certain time and gotta be here by 8:30, the latest. It keeps me busy, positive, motivated, and I can help to provide for my son. I’m just trying to do better for myself and give him an example. I’m very grateful and I thank Green Keepers for the opportunity.”