Peter Vallone, Jr's swift cleanup action

From the Queens Gazette:

On December 14, Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr. and his staff removed more than a 1,000 pounds of garbage from Sean’s Place Playground in Astoria. An alley next to the neighborhood park has been a constant target of litterers, and some of the trash has remained there for decades. Among the debris were wooden planks with rusty nails, glass bottles and needles. Located a few blocks away from Steinway Street, the park is frequented by many neighborhood children.

Previously, the area behind Sean’s Place was closed off by a fence and could not be accessed to perform a cleanup. However, the Department of Transportation recently replaced the fence with a gate that could be opened and locked with a key, allowing for regular maintenance of the area.

From the Queens Chronicle:

“It became a place to get rid of junk, but it isn’t anymore,”Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said.

The improvement started in April when the community organization contacted Vallone. His office led by his legislative director, Jonathan Szott, started talks with the DOT and the Parks Department. Now nearly eight months later a solution has been reached.

“All the agencies worked together,” Vallone said, adding that coordinating with multiple government organizations often takes time.“But now we can get to the space without contacting everyone.”

So let me get this straight...

This dumping has been going on for decades.
Peter Vallone, Jr. has been in office for 11 years.
He only noticed the problem this past April when someone pointed it out to him.
It took him eight months to get the DOT to open the gate so it could be cleaned.

Pete sounds like the ideal borough president candidate, dontcha think?