By Lisa Kava
ONE BLOCK, a nonprofit organization founded during the pandemic summer of 2020 to help clean Upper West Side streets, has since filled more than 150,000 bags of garbage. Now, as the organization celebrates its third anniversary, help from the community is desperately needed to keep it alive.
According to co-founder Ann Cutbill Lenane, ONE BLOCK is short on donations, which are crucial to the nonprofit’s survival. “Without donations and sponsors, we will not be able to continue,” Lenane told West Side Rag in a phone interview.
ONE BLOCK was born in August 2020 when Jake Russell, a Texas native turned Upper West Sider, noticed he was constantly stepping over garbage when walking in the neighborhood. He formed a Facebook group asking Upper West Siders to “adopt” an Upper West Side block to regularly clean. Lenane, a real estate broker/dynamo (whose tag line is “Annie Gets It Done“) loved Russell’s idea and joined forces with him. “Tempers and anxiety were high on the UWS and I wanted to help,” she told the Rag. Together they turned the Facebook group into ONE BLOCK.
In the early days ONE BLOCK grew quickly as many Upper West Siders shared Lenane’s sentiments. By October 2020, the organization had 1,600 volunteers. In addition to cleaning their adopted blocks, volunteers met for group clean-ups on select Saturdays and Sundays, led by Russell and Lenane who provided bright green garbage bags, T-shirts, and hats. Regular donations to ONE BLOCK rolled in as neighborhood residents were excited about the mission.
In October 2020, ONE BLOCK partnered with the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (ACE), another nonprofit, which provides support and job training to men and women experiencing homelessness. Through that partnership, ONE BLOCK hired three full-time workers to clean up sections of Columbus, Amsterdam, and Broadway.
But in early 2021, Lenane noticed a change. “People started going back to work after the initial halt of the pandemic and we had far fewer volunteers,” she told the Rag. “There were times when I would be the only one to show up for a group cleanup.” She reached out to local schools, churches, and synagogues to get involved. “Columbus Preschool hosted and sponsored Fun Runs to raise money and awareness for us for three years in a row.”
Three years after its founding, ONE BLOCK is facing new challenges. Russell has returned to his home state of Texas, and Lenane is running ONE BLOCK on her own. As donations have significantly decreased, she was forced to scale down the coverage area (workers originally cleaned Broadway, Columbus and Amsterdam, but Columbus has been eliminated.) Lenane also had to cut the workers’ hours from seven to four days a week. And, sadly, ONE BLOCK no longer has the funds to pay three ACE workers, so Lenane needed to let one go. The remaining two workers, Jackie and Ramon have been with ONE BLOCK since the beginning.
In February 2023, ONE BLOCK received some relief in the form of funding from the Department of Youth and Community Development. But Lenane says she is only allowed to use 30% of those funds to pay the workers who are considered subcontractors. The remaining funds are used for expenses such as bags, insurance, and lunch cards for the workers. “It’s a help, but not enough,” she said.
“I believe people now take for granted that our neighborhood will stay clean without supplemental cleanup. Once the pandemic lifted and the streets were cleaner, the donations slowed down. Over the last three years, we have gone from a large scattering of donations of all sizes, to small repeat monthly donations. That can’t sustain us.”
Lenane is passionate about ONE BLOCK and believes that supplemental garbage pick-up is crucial. “Without it the streets would be a mess.” She also feels dedicated to keeping her workers employed. “We have given people jobs who were unemployed and who now feel appreciated and are deeply grateful. We need to keep going.” To support ONE BLOCK click here.
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Don’t we pay enough in NY real estate taxes and other taxes so that the sanitation department should cleans our streets ?
Aren’t the local business responsible for cleaning the garbage by their establishments ?
Why do we have to contribute money to a not for profit as good as it may be ? Where are our city council reps who should make sure we get the services that we pay for !
I was going to say something like this. Good point. Citizens’ being forced to pay their own money or time if they want to see things done–things for the doing of which they already pay taxes–are in a bad position. And yes, stores used to be responsible for sweeping the sidewalk and shoveling snow. When I worked for a xerox copy place on Broadway decades ago, I remember our store’s being fined for not doing this (I can still see the red-faced, uniformed inspector in my memory).
Dear Dorit, the sanitation dep’t. empties trash cans, compost bins and clears the gutters. Have U ever seen a sanitation truck go up on a sidewalk ? There’s litter and garbage that pedestrians drop on sidewalks: candy wrappers. plastic bags, leftover take-out foods, coffee cups, soda cans,plastic cutlery,—U name it . That’s why volunteers are needed. Bernice Silverman
The city makes property owners responsible to cleaning the sidewalks in front of their building and even 18” into the curb where cars are parked . That’s why you will see me I front of my small 4 unit condo cleaning the street so that we avoid getting tickets .
Business owners are supposed to do the same in front of their establishments .
Ann has done an incredible job running OneBlock. The UWS is better because of her work and her dedication. The amount of times she has stepped in and handled insane circumstances, and the general chaos of picking up 1000’s of bags of trash a week are innumerable. The volunteers that showed up, and those that continue to show up, are amazing! I encourage the community to consider what happens if OneBlocks work does stop. While I moved back closer to family I will always be rooting for the UWS and OneBlock!
I’m a One Block volunteer. Confession: I haven’t done a group cleanup in a long time, Reason: the group cleanups are always on a Sat morning, which is (a) the time the Upper West Side is at its absolute cleanest, so there is the least need and (b) when I am busiest. If I were running this organization, cleanups would be from 5 pm to 6 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. This is when the trash bins are overflowing.
A lot of middle and high schools have service requirements. This is an easy source of volunteers.
I’m sure I will get yelled at for this but there are a lot of people receiving supportive housing (including migrants) who could repay the taxpayers generosity through some sweat equity.
And there are a lot of restaurants that are now back on their feet post-Covid that are getting a lot of bonus revenue from street sheds who could repay this generosity through donations. Their names can be publicized for this.
I don’t work in fundraising or community organizing but this seems like low hanging fruit.
Regarding student community service, unfortunately, it is not that simple. Organizations have to apply and be approved as school community service partners, and they also have to do significant volunteer tracking and reporting to the schools. Only larger organizations with the necessary infrastructure can do this.
1) I can’t speak for your child’s school, but my child’s school and it’s a large one, it is not like that at all.
All they have to do is have the manager sign a letter stating they did the community service. I think that’s the best place for young volunteers in school.
2) In regards to the thousands of individuals ( homeless shelters and migrants) perhaps they can be persuaded to come help clean up the neighborhood that they live in?
You know… give back – as their rent, Con Ed, Internet, and health insurance are paid for by the taxpayers.
3) And back to the article, this is a wonderful organization, hats off to the folks who volunteer there.
I volunteer for One Block, sometimes working alone in my own area of the UWS or along with a neighbor. It feels good to do it, you meet nice folks who thank you, you see instant positive results of your labor. Hope I’ll see more of the green shirts around now!
One Block sounds like a wonderful thing and I am certainly appreciative. However, I have never heard of this organization until now nor have I ever seen anyone with green hats, shirts or garbage bags or anyone at all cleaning up our streets. Where is this group hiding??
I don’t see them as often as I used to, apparently due to cutbacks but I definitely see them and cheer them in when I see them. This is a great organization which helped to keep our streets clean when sanitation services were cut during the pandemic. If Mayor Adams depiction of the migrant crisis is accurate, sanitation services will likely be cut again. I don’t think we can afford to lose this group!
Could you provide an address for sending contributions, please?
pls look online at
https://oneblockuws.org
You can contribute by credit card or through paypal.
Thank you for your support!
Done!! Thank you Lenane!! Wonderful work. Donating is the least we can do!
Contributor and volunteer to OneBlock since it started. Ever grateful to Ann and team for working, often behind the scenes, to make sure a difference on UWS. Have you walked other neighborhoods since Covid? If it weren’t for Ann and all she does, the sidewalks would be a huge mess. Please contribute if you can.
Does the department of sanitation have no responsibility for this? For example, West 110th Street & Broadway is a disgrace. Is it the responsibility of volunteers and your organization or can the city pick up this unsightly filth? I also wonder if we can put up signs again to discourage people from littering. That used to be a thing but seems to have fallen by the wayside.
Thanks. What dept of sanitation does is empty trash bins. They don’t pick up trash and litter that is left on the streets and sidewalks. Also, when the bins are overflowing, what they don’t do is take the time to pick up all the bits that fall out. Our volunteers and staff actually bag this debris as well as empty the bins during their shifts into the green bags that you see alongside the bins so that the bins can get filled up again before Sanitation comes and empties them. Ann has developed relationships with Sanitation where the groups work in tandem. Through this partnership, they are actually able to collect more trash on the UWS during their tight shifts. I WISH that other city sponsored programs were willing to work more in tandem with OneBlock (like the BIDS, Goddard, and Broadway Malls), scheduling areas and days when they send out their crew, since I think collectively we could accomplish so much more. However…. Thank you for your support.
Very appreciative of the work.
It is incredible to see all the trash left around in this now mostly affluent neighborhood – Starbucks, Joe’s Juice and pizza boxes left on overflowing sidewalk trash bins.
Trash left by folks who know better, folks who purport to care about the environment…..
We create the trash
Just a reminder, the sidewalk outside of a store is the responsibility of the store.
I know that sounds a bit crazy as it’s the city sidewalk… but that’s not the way the city has set this all up
When I see trash outside of a food store, West 72nd, for example, I always walk in and tell the manager that it’s the responsibility of the store to clean up the overflowing garbage
After giving fair warning-
You can always call 311 (if they do not clean up the sidewalk) and report the location and they will get a ticket.
The biggest problem are the mediums on Broadway . There are a lot of homeless individuals who are using that as a place to do drugs and drink, and in the process creating a lot of trash.
Thank you to this organization.
They do a wonderful job.
In the case of West 71st and Broadway, sadly, One Block made one corner filthy. A highly trafficked area, some years ago Sanitation Dept. had removed a constantly overflowing trash can at the SE corner and the area became spotless. Counterintuitive maybe, but almost no one will place trash where there is no trash can. Take a look around! (Sanitation has successfully employed this idea elsewhere and it should be used more.) One Block dog owners somehow convinced the city to replace the trash can (so they could more quickly throw away doggie stuff) and it is overflowing daily attracting discarded items such as shower chairs, walkers, microwaves and other house hold items. It is an absolute mess solely because of OneBlock’s efforts. Other nearby areas where Sanitation has removed cans continue to be very clean and free of overflowing cans. Most people are willing to wait to discard an item of trash.
When our Block Association approached One Block about this, they were initially receptive but then quite hostile to our request to remove the can. I agree with others here that we should not be asked to donate funds to this group when we already pay taxes to the city. Put pressure on the elected officials, Sanitation Dept. and continue to report violations to 311. We need more enforcement of existing laws such have been mentioned in other letters here. Storekeepers are almost all failing to keep the sidewalks clean 18 inches into the curb, including treewells.
Citizens pay taxes and have a right to a clean neighborhood. Our mayor and Sanitation Commissioner are making good efforts in this regard but much more needs to be done, particularly enforcement.