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Sch’dy garbage crews go out of their way to make us do so

I am writing about the unacceptable service by the city garbage and recycling staff.
This morning [July 14], I left for work later than usual and while backing out of my driveway I heard a horrendous scraping noise. I pulled my car back into the driveway to discover my recycling bin was destroyed.
Nearly every garbage pick-up day, upon my return home from work I have to pull my car over to move my garbage cans/recycling bins, and often my neighbor’s cans and/or bins, from the middle of my driveway — or worse, the middle of the street. Some days it’s like an obstacle course to get from one end of the street to the other. Although high winds are at times a factor, often it seems like the cans are deliberately left in the street to blow all over the place, instead of on the curb, where residents leave them in the morning.
I called the city and was transferred to the Law Department, and was told that to be reimbursed for my bin I would need to fill out two forms, get them notarized (at my expense) and either personally serve them (taking time off from work to do so) or send them via certified mail (at my expense). I will take these steps, just as I had to do many years ago when a plow truck driven by a city employee gouged the side of my car.
I wouldn’t be as frustrated by this situation if we were not assessed a separate tax for garbage and recycling removal. If I had the money, I would hire a private company, because this service is extremely poor.

Laura Turner
Schenectady