Willie Guess said his job was to make "Philly look like Philly again" after big events such as Saturday night's Welcome America concert and fireworks show on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
As the Streets Department's waste-collection district supervisor for citywide cleaning, he has done all he can. The streets are clean, and have been since yesterday.
But the massive stage, with all its lighting and sound equipment, won't start to come down until today because of Sunday overtime costs, said security workers at the site.
Getting the streets clean, however, was no walk through the Parkway. Late-night lingerers might have witnessed the crew of 40 armed with leaf blowers, street sweepers, street flushers, and trash trucks attack the area after the crowds filtered out. By dawn yesterday, the area was devoid of the paper napkins, crushed beer cans, and plastic bottles left by the thousands who attended the festivities.
"I know I've done my job when people come out in the morning and say, 'Wow, it looks like nothing happened,' " Guess said.
Anthony Ellis saw how "junky" the area was after he left the concert Saturday, but sitting on a bench near the Parkway the next morning, he took note of the change.
"It looks a lot different now," Ellis said. "They got a little ways to go, but it looks a lot better."
Yesterday morning, members of another crew started working in the surrounding neighborhoods where hordes of people walked home. They also did touch-up work on the Parkway.
More than 20 tons of trash and recycling were collected from the streets and 300 temporary litter stations set up by the city, Guess said.
The 130 portable toilets clustered throughout the Art Museum area were pumped, cleaned, and hauled back yesterday to Pottstown, where Potty Queen, the contracted company, is based.
John McGovern, Potty Queen's operating manager, said it took his crew of 15 about seven hours to get through the "labor-intensive" work.
City workers like Wayne Woodford, who has driven a street sweeper for 22 years, take special pride in their work.
"I want to bring more people into the city," Woodford said. "You know, make their experience a pleasant one."
Contact staff writer Traver Riggins at 215-854-5626 or triggins@phillynews.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEWS
Philly.com Promotions
