Exclusive: Progress made in clean-up of dirty railroad tracks in Queens
NEW YORK -- A viewer tip came to CBS New York's inbox in recent weeks pointing to a litter problem on a commercial railroad in Queens.
Now, there's been an uplifting development.
When we first met Daniel Kalmann at the end of November, he told us his little backyard had a big problem: piles of litter on a freight railroad behind his home.
"They can't just leave trash accumulating for years and years," he said.
Outreach from neighbors to the railroad company responsible for upkeep seemed to go nowhere until, just weeks after our story aired, a crew came to collect trash on the tracks near the intersection of 60th Street and 60th Drive.
"I haven't seen that in 20 years," Kalmann said.
After observing garbage left behind, CBS New York asked New York & Atlantic Railway of any plans to return and finish the clean-up. A spokesperson replied, "New York & Atlantic Railway works to foster a spirit of cooperation with our neighbors in addressing quality-of-life issues that affect us all, such as illegal dumping in areas adjacent to our tracks. We will continue to monitor the conditions along our tracks, and we ask our neighbors to remain vigilant and report incidents of illegal dumping to the authorities."
For Daniel Kalmann, this brings hope.
"You need to be active. You need to positive about things that you can possibly change," he said.
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