Over the last five years, I've volunteered countless hours to help clear literal tons of trash from the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, NY. While we've made huge progress thanks to our many dedicated volunteers, one untouchable blight remains.
Route 9.
It's the literal doorstep of our community, and it's a sty. But it's illegal for anyone besides NYDOT-approved service providers to clean up, due to insurance and safety regulations.
To retain an approved cleaning service provider costs around $350 per month, with a two-year contract. (Again, no volunteer clean-ups are ever permitted on a major roadway like the 9.)
So I'd like to raise $5,000 to start and fund a 501(c)3 non-profit which will use the donations to pay an approved service provider (adoptahighway.net) to clean a one-mile bi-directional stretch of Route 9 between Municipal Place and the Senasqua Exit. Eventually, total funding of $10K should last about two years.
To get there, I'm asking residents and business owners to fill the void through micro, small and large donations alike, for the benefit of all. The goal is engagement, activism and participation. If an individual, group or company contributes enough, we can put their name on the roadsign.
It will help the environment. It will help the river. It will help the curb appeal of our community.
And it will cost very little in the end.
If you can spare a few bucks, we'd love your help.
If you can't, no problem. I recognize as well that our taxes SHOULD pay for this already. But we are where we are. See below for ways to let NYSDOT know how unhappy you are with how they're spending your tax dollars.
Help us blast the NYSDOT with complaints
If you need help writing your complaint, here's a prompt you can paste into Claude/ChatGPT/Copilot/etc. (This will have the most impact).
I need to write a powerful, short one paragraph complaint to the New York State Department of Transportation about the litter problem on Route 9 in Croton-on-Hudson. It's a visual blight, its puts pollution in our water, which leads to microplastics in our body. They need to clean up this litter regularly to avoid endangering our health and the environment. Write it in the toned-down style of a popular blogger. Do not use ANY dashes.
Thank you!