The December 16, 2021 letter described littered sidewalks, overflowing receptacles and stickers and graffiti on street fixtures. The Gramercy Park Block Association announced a professionally run neighborhood-cleaning program for the new year, drawing on the approach used by New York’s Business Improvement Districts.
In 2022, the Block Association introduced Mamadou Tall and Saliou Diop, the people residents were beginning to know through Clean Streets.
The launch was a new chapter in a longer sanitation history. The Block Association had previously arranged supplemental cleaning through a partnership with the Doe Fund.