There Will Be No "Leftovers" Along the Thanksgiving Day Parade Route Thanks to New York' Strongest

November 27, 2024

The annual Thanksgiving Day parade brings lots of spectators, many floats and balloons, numerous entertainers, one Santa – and tons of trash and debris! But thanks to 170 of New York's Strongest, there won't be a single "leftover" remaining along the route.

When parade viewers start heading home to their meals, our employees get down to work. This year, the New York City Department of Sanitation clean team will consist of:

• 147 Sanitation Workers, and
• 23 Officers.

The crews will use:

• 29 mechanical brooms,
• 32 hand brooms,
• 23 backpack blowers, and
• 23 collection trucks to get the job done.

Following the parade in 2023, Sanitation crews picked up more than 65 tons of debris.

About the New York City Department of Sanitation

The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) keeps New York City clean, safe, and healthy by collecting, recycling, and disposing of waste, cleaning streets, attacking the scourge of illegal dumping, and clearing snow and ice. The Department operates 59 district garages and manages a fleet of more than 2,000 rear-loading collection trucks, 450 mechanical brooms, 705 salt spreaders, and several dozen bike lane operations machines. Under the Adams Administration, the Department is aggressively cleaning more parts of the City than ever before, including over 1,000 long-ignored areas spread across every neighborhood. With the highest wintertime uniformed headcount in 20 years, DSNY is more equipped than ever to remove snow and ice from the approximately 19,000 lane-miles of City streets.