City, community groups launch Liberty Avenue cleanup, merchants association push

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced a coordinated action plan on Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill on Oct. 26, 2025, that pairs a new cleanup contract with enforcement steps and community organizing to address litter, illegal vending and sidewalk accessibility.

The effort centers on a $50,000 allocation approved by the City Council two weeks earlier to fund supplemental cleanup services through the end of the fiscal year on June 30. "This supplement will provide services for 5 days a week through June 30," Speaker Adams said, and her office said it will seek funding for the next fiscal year to continue services at least three days a week.

The plan also includes a new interagency task force made up of the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), the New York Police Department and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to coordinate enforcement of vending regulations and other quality-of-life issues. "We're proud to have launched a new interagency task force, which includes the Department of Sanitation, NYPD, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to enforce city regulations on vending and ensure our sidewalks are accessible to everybody," Adams said.

The supplemental cleanup work began Oct. 25, when the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) deployed crews to the corridor, according to CEO representatives at the event. "This worksite is part of something bigger," Brady Temple, regional social enterprise manager at CEO, said, describing CEO's role placing returning citizens in paid transitional work that provides street sweeping, litter pickup and other maintenance. Temple said the crew on Liberty Avenue includes five participants and a site supervisor, Kasim Cox.

Local merchants and community leaders voiced support and urged sustained accountability. "The cleanliness in the community, it's disappointing to see the way trash is thrown about everywhere here," said business owner Danny Persaud, who owns Tropical Isle Roti Shop and Knockout Style Boutique on the corridor. Betty Brayton, chair of Queens Community Board 10, called the merchants association a "big step" and praised the partnerships between the council office, community groups and agencies.

Speaker Adams' office said the cleanup route runs from Liberty at Lefferts Boulevard north to 130th Street and from Lefferts and Liberty east to Rockaway Boulevard. The office also said it will work with Community Board 10 to ask the Department of Transportation to install no-standing signs for parts of the day to ease curbside congestion, and will request additional street sweeping from DSNY.

Officials described the approach as a mix of education and enforcement: the administration intends to start with outreach and warnings and escalate to violations or citations when appropriate. "We start with education first," Ty Hankerson, district chief of staff to Speaker Adams, said, while noting that sanitation enforcement walkthroughs had already taken place on Liberty Avenue in the previous week.

Adams and partners said they will pursue formation of a Liberty Avenue merchants association in collaboration with the Queens Chamber of Commerce and local CDCs. The speakers described the merchants association as a vehicle to promote businesses, coordinate resources and increase neighborhood accountability, but provided no formal timeline for its establishment beyond ongoing conversations.

The announcement concluded with requests for continued community participation and agency follow-through; office staff signaled further coordination meetings and funding requests in the coming months. The plan brings short-term cleanup services and enforcement coordination together with a longer-term organizing effort to support merchants and accessibility along the corridor.