Community

The DOE Fund is making a temporary return to East 86th Street to clean up the garbage that residents say chronically builds up along the sidewalk and flows out of trash bins. The DOE Fund, or the "men in blue," as they're called, began bagging up trash along East 86th Street on Dec. 19 and will finish their stint in the new year, according to Councilman Ben Kallos, who secured funding to pay for clean up on the busy street from Lexington to First Avenue.

At a Tuesday night town hall hosted by City Council Members Dan Garodnick and Rosie Mendez at Gramercy’s Church of the Epiphany, stakeholders voiced concerns about problems related to homelessness, an increasingly controversial issue facing the East Side of Manhattan.

After presentations from city officials and nonprofit leaders who work on homelessness issues, local residents asked questions about how they can resolve problems specific to the area, like the myriad issues with the 850-bed 30th Street Men’s Shelter (also known as “Bellevue”).

East side councilmember wants to meet every person in the district