Marvin Place gets no respect.
The unmapped street in the Westchester Square neighborhood has been unkempt and strewn with garbage since the 1980’s.
But residents and members of the Westchester Square Civic Association say its time to take responsibility for the community eyesore.
The association recently held a clean up of the street, inviting local residents to help remove bags of garbage, pull weeds, and rake leaves.
“We had a BBQ and cleanup,” said association president Lou Rocco. “We got all the neighbors, the local church, all the local people in the area to help out, about 75 to 100 people in all. We went down Marvin Place and took out about seven bags of garbage from the street. It looks spotless now, it was a really good turn out.”
Rocco said the street has been a mess for years because no on in the community knows whose responsibility it is to maintain the street.
“We don’t know if it is a private road or if it is owned by the city,” Rocco said. “We either need to get this street mapped or I have some private citizens in the area who are willing to buy the road and maintain it. But it can’t continue to stay a mess.”
Daniel Donovan, an engineer for the topography desk in Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s office, said Marvin Place is not a city-owned or mapped street, and in order for the street to become mapped, members of the community would have to submit petitions and work their way up from local Community Board 10 to the city planning and development office to make a case.
A spokesperson for the City Department of Transportation said because the street is not city-owned, it does not receive regular garbage pick up, re-paving or plowing.
Rocco said he thinks it is time someone steps up and either petitions for the street to be mapped or take responsibility for its upkeep.
“I am going to start by talking with Community Board 10 and starting a petition,” Rocco said. “If we can’t get the street mapped, I am going to find out how the street can be bought by a private citizen, because there are people that want it and will take care of it.”
Kirsten Sanchez can be reach via e-mail at ksanchez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3394
