In New York, where politics divide, trash is what brings people together. Over the past two years, volunteer groups have sprung up across all five boroughs, meeting regularly to pick up litter along the sidewalks. They don’t expect to save the city on their own—an impossible task—but they’re rediscovering a sense of civic participation and, often, a new circle of friends.
Among them is Rachael Cain, founder of the Pick-up Pigeons, a collective launched in 2023 that roams the city armed with grabbers and trash bags. The group has already covered every borough and has developed a quirky enthusiasm for the most neglected blocks. “If you cut me open, you’ll find nothing but Styrofoam and feathers,” Cain jokes to Gothamist.
On one of their recent outings, about fifteen volunteers gathered at Neir’s Tavern, a historic Queens bar, before heading out for a two-hour sweep through Cypress Hills. Cain leads the group, pushing a bin, while participants stop to photograph piles of debris or plastic bottles filled with stagnant liquid. By the end of the night, the bags collected weigh more than 200 pounds.
Cain knows their efforts won’t change the situation on their own. But she’s noticed something: “There’s a hunger for civic engagement. People want to do something tangible.”
That sentiment is echoed by 30-year-old Tom Aulenback, founder of the Greenpoint Trash Club, which draws dozens of Brooklyn residents every week. After they fill their bags, the group heads to a local bar. “When I go out to buy groceries, I always run into someone from the group,” he says. “You walk, you chat, you soak up some positive energy,” adds volunteer Danish Jawaid.
But obstacles remain. Since 2023, a regulation introduced by Mayor Eric Adams requires that commercial trash be set out only in sealed containers, in an effort to curb the rat population. Applied strictly, the rule would complicate the volunteers’ work, as they’re used to leaving full bags next to public bins.
“Under the new rule, we’re supposed to place the bags inside a container,” says Catie Savage, leader of The Litter Legion. “We can’t leave them next to a bin, which makes no sense. They’re not my trash—it’s street trash.”
The Pick-up Pigeons have devised an alternative strategy: they pile the bags in one spot and call 311 to report it as an “illegal dumping.” That way, the Sanitation Department comes to collect them. “It’s not a perfect system,” Cain admits, “but it still leaves the street cleaner.”
