The History of the NYC Sanitation Department

New York City Department of Sanitation anthropologist-in-residence Robin Nagle speaks to new hires about the department's history on July 20, 2015, in New York. Video by Ted Shaffrey.
1/19/2023 UPDATE: Some people have asked why I turned the camera away from the presentation at around 19:50. I did that because Robin Nagle was displaying copyrighted images from Superstorm Sandy that I could not rebroadcast. So, as is my habit, I tested my camera focus and exposure settings on random people in the audience. Then, when she was no longer displaying the copyrighted images, I turned the camera back to the presentation.
4/16/2020: Robin Nagle, as described in a 2015 Associated Press story:
“Nagle is not merely an ivory-tower scholar. She has got her hands dirty, literally, by going through the training, learning to drive the trucks and working for almost a year as a regular, salaried sanitation worker.
Her biggest contribution, as far as the city's 6,400 rank-and-file sanitation workers are concerned, is in raising morale for a job that is often overlooked.
In talks to new recruits, she spreads a message of pride that the 134-year-old department nicknamed "New York's Strongest" is "the city's most important uniformed force," clearing streets of the refuse that would otherwise breed vermin and disease.
"I will also make clear to you how it is far more dangerous than being a cop or a fire fighter. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics you are three times, you are three times more likely to be injured or killed in the line of duty," she tells the recruits.
Nagle says she loves sanitation workers because they make a difference every single day.”

[@temarybaltazar]

I loved watching this

[@telly5373]

Thankless work with a proud history!

[@AndreUncut]

Thank you for this.

[@mattrobinson47]

I am so interested in this history! Can’t say the same for the guy at 19:50 he has had enough of it.
Very informative, are there books on this subject? Again, not sarcastic, I really dig this explanation of the importance of sanitation in American cities

[@mctavishmcardle6906]

great talk - learned a lot! nagle's book is now on my to-read list

[@Janotes]

Remember the Athey wagons and hanging out in the shanty. Dont miss the seagulls..

[@noongourfain]

LOL.....But the seagulls miss the open barges! Floating seagull restaurant with a great view.

[@SophiaGonzo]

wha†s up with the zoom ins

[@godfrey_of_america]

Video guy thinks he's Steven Speilberg