6 ms·

The articles says that the confetti is biodegradable

manicdee 8y ago
The article also says 3000 pounds of confetti. The article makes no mention of the other garbage the accumulates as a bypoduct of this event, much of which is not biodegradable. What is the point of dumping this garbage in the street?
- qha 8y ago
  To keep the cleaners busy, so they have a job and can feed their families. Isn't that a good enough point?
  - KozmoNau7 8y ago
    No. It's a net waste of resources, and ultimately a pointless exercise in doing work for nothing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
  - AnaniasAnanas 8y ago
    Better idea: pay the cleaners anyway and let them stay home without littering in public. Alternative: do not pay the cleaners if they can't do enough useful work (without artificially increasing it for no gain) - their wage comes from the taxpayers after all (I presume) who pay them in order to get a specific work done, not for charity.
    - vkou 8y ago
      Most of the garabge they are cleaning up isn't confetti. It's people throwing their wrappers/bottles on the ground because they can't/won't get to a garbage can.
    - arthurfm 8y ago
      > Better idea: pay the cleaners anyway and let them stay home without littering in public. There are about 200 unemployed New York subway construction workers who would love a job where they get paid to do nothing. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-... An accountant discovered the discrepancy while reviewing the budget for new train platforms under Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The budget showed that 900 workers were being paid to dig caverns for the platforms as part of a 3.5-mile tunnel connecting the historic station to the Long Island Rail Road. But the accountant could only identify about 700 jobs that needed to be done, according to three project supervisors. Officials could not find any reason for the other 200 people to be there. “Nobody knew what those people were doing, if they were doing anything,” said Michael Horodniceanu, who was then the head of construction at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs transit in New York. The workers were laid off, Mr. Horodniceanu said, but no one figured out how long they had been employed. “All we knew is they were each being paid about $1,000 every day.”
      - PakG1 8y ago
        Wow, a thousand a day? Is that full wages, or does it include benefits? Even if it did include benefits, $1,000/day all-in is not exactly chump change. Universal income would not pay them $1,000/day.
        user5994461 8y ago
        That should be full costs, probably paid to a subcontracting company.
        lostlogin 8y ago
        Are you implying that it wasn’t going to a worker, that it was just fraud?
        user5994461 8y ago
        I'm implying that workers are often employed temporarily though a subcontracting agency, rather than being in a permanent role. The daily costs is fully inclusive. Both companies should keep track of what resources are assigned where and paid for.
- dmurray 8y ago
  > The article makes no mention of the other garbage the accumulates as a bypoduct of this event In fact, it makes a point of it. > More than 100 sanitation workers begin their eight-hour shifts. Using street sweepers, backpack blowers, and push brooms, they will remove the 57 tons of material that’s left behind, none of which is recycled.
- cobbzilla 8y ago
  > What is the point of dumping this garbage in the street? It’s NYC. There are no alleyways so the garbage usually ends up on the sidewalk. Smells just wonderful in the summertime. A few tons of confetti on the street is a drop in the bucket.

The article also says 3000 pounds of confetti. The article makes no mention of the other garbage the accumulates as a bypoduct of this event, much of which is not biodegradable. What is the point of dumping this garbage in the street?

qha 8y ago
To keep the cleaners busy, so they have a job and can feed their families. Isn't that a good enough point?
- KozmoNau7 8y ago
  No. It's a net waste of resources, and ultimately a pointless exercise in doing work for nothing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
- AnaniasAnanas 8y ago
  Better idea: pay the cleaners anyway and let them stay home without littering in public. Alternative: do not pay the cleaners if they can't do enough useful work (without artificially increasing it for no gain) - their wage comes from the taxpayers after all (I presume) who pay them in order to get a specific work done, not for charity.
  - vkou 8y ago
    Most of the garabge they are cleaning up isn't confetti. It's people throwing their wrappers/bottles on the ground because they can't/won't get to a garbage can.
  - arthurfm 8y ago
    > Better idea: pay the cleaners anyway and let them stay home without littering in public. There are about 200 unemployed New York subway construction workers who would love a job where they get paid to do nothing. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-... An accountant discovered the discrepancy while reviewing the budget for new train platforms under Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The budget showed that 900 workers were being paid to dig caverns for the platforms as part of a 3.5-mile tunnel connecting the historic station to the Long Island Rail Road. But the accountant could only identify about 700 jobs that needed to be done, according to three project supervisors. Officials could not find any reason for the other 200 people to be there. “Nobody knew what those people were doing, if they were doing anything,” said Michael Horodniceanu, who was then the head of construction at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs transit in New York. The workers were laid off, Mr. Horodniceanu said, but no one figured out how long they had been employed. “All we knew is they were each being paid about $1,000 every day.”
    - PakG1 8y ago
      Wow, a thousand a day? Is that full wages, or does it include benefits? Even if it did include benefits, $1,000/day all-in is not exactly chump change. Universal income would not pay them $1,000/day.
      - user5994461 8y ago
        That should be full costs, probably paid to a subcontracting company.
        lostlogin 8y ago
        Are you implying that it wasn’t going to a worker, that it was just fraud?
        user5994461 8y ago
        I'm implying that workers are often employed temporarily though a subcontracting agency, rather than being in a permanent role. The daily costs is fully inclusive. Both companies should keep track of what resources are assigned where and paid for.
dmurray 8y ago
> The article makes no mention of the other garbage the accumulates as a bypoduct of this event In fact, it makes a point of it. > More than 100 sanitation workers begin their eight-hour shifts. Using street sweepers, backpack blowers, and push brooms, they will remove the 57 tons of material that’s left behind, none of which is recycled.
cobbzilla 8y ago
> What is the point of dumping this garbage in the street? It’s NYC. There are no alleyways so the garbage usually ends up on the sidewalk. Smells just wonderful in the summertime. A few tons of confetti on the street is a drop in the bucket.