In a first for Mount Vernon, an all-female sanitation crew got the job done on August 23, operating a garbage truck as they picked up recycling along the city’s 4th Avenue downtown corridor. The women – Kanya Antwe, Khadijah Patterson and Chakka Christopher – were hired in 2022 as part of 25 seasonal workers during the “Love Our City Campaign” funded through the American Rescue Plan.
While sewer repairs, rental and mortgage assistance, new vehicles and hazard pay for essential city workers were part of Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard’s proposal on how to spend those funds, the monies were also used to address neighborhood blight. Those seasonal workers cleaned up more than 50 abandoned properties last summer.
The city’s Department of Public Works oversees not only the sanitation department, but other departments including stormwater management, parks, and building and highway maintenance. According to the city’s website, Damani Bush, the DPW’s commissioner, supervises a staff of 129 men and women.