Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker says city plans to clean every block this summer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia has set an ambitious goal as it tries to become the cleanest big city in the country.
Mayor Cherelle Parker's administration announced Friday in a news conference that it plans to clean every block in the city over 13 weeks this summer.
Parker signed an executive order to establish Philadelphia's Clean and Green Cabinet and the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives which the city said will promote "cross-departmental and intra-agency cooperation in the fight against quality-of-life issues such as litter, abandoned autos, graffiti, nuisance businesses and illegal dumping."
Starting June 3, workers will pick up trash, sweep streets, fill potholes, get rid of abandoned cars and fix abandoned buildings throughout the city with the goal of making Philadelphia a better place to live, work and visit.
"We know our city struggles with quality of life problems like blight and graffiti and illegal dumping, abandoned cars and potholes, tractor trailers parked in neighborhoods; these problems negatively impact far too many communities," said Carlton Williams, director of the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives.
This is part of Parker's promise to make Philadelphia the "safest, cleanest, greenest big city" in the United States, which she made during her inaugural speech in January 2024.
Last month, the city started cracking down on drivers who park on streets in the 14 neighborhoods being cleaned as part of the Mechanical Street Cleaning program.
The program uses mechanical brooms to sweep street debris and clean select city routes from April through November each year. Sanitation workers also clean certain routes with backpack blowers and hand brooms.
