Curtis Sliwa's Plan to Enhance Quality of Life and City Services for Residents:

New York City’s basic services have deteriorated, leading to dirty streets, noise pollution, illegal dumping, rat infestations, illegal vendors, and worsening traffic violations. A Curtis Sliwa administration will restore order, enforce quality-of-life laws, and bring back accountability. Neighborhoods will no longer be neglected while illegal businesses and bad actors operate freely.

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1. Cleaning Up NYC’s Streets & Public Spaces
Curtis will reverse the decline of sanitation services and restore pride to city blocks, parks and pubic spaces:

• Expand street cleaning and trash collection citywide.

• Increase litter basket pickups on major commercial corridors.

• Provide free residential waste bins to reduce loose trash and rodent activity.

• Expand the illegal dumping camera program and enforce stiff fines for violators.

• Hire more sanitation workers and enforcement officers to keep up with demand and penalize chronic offenders.

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2. Launching a Permanent Quality of Life Task Force

To unify and coordinate better services for residents, Curtis will:

• Meet with every City Council member in their district to identify quality of life issues affecting residents. This way we can provide a district specific plan to improve services and city agency response time for for every neighborhood in NYC ​​

• Involve all city agencies including NYPD, DEP, DOB, FDNY, DCWP, and DSNY for targeted, collaborative operations to assure issues are handled timely and efficiently.

•  Handle everything from illegal storefronts to open air prostitution, noise violations to sanitation issues. 

• Ensure faster response times, shared data, and no bureaucratic finger-pointing.

• Model this task force on proven operations like MARCH, NYPD' 'Build the Block", & Community Link, but with guaranteed results and accessibility for resident needs. ​

• Assure Complaints to 311 are Addressed Properly & Timely:

  • ​Real-Time Interagency Coordination Platform

  • Implement a centralized digital platform linking all relevant agencies so 311 complaints can be addressed jointly, not passed around or ignored.

  • Agencies will be required to mark complaint status, actions taken, and time to resolution.

  • Mandate Timelines for Common Complaints

    • Enforce strict deadlines for action on top quality of life issues:

      • Illegal dumping – 48 hours

      • Graffiti – 72 hours

      • Streetlight outage – 72 hours

      • Noise complaints – within 24 hours

      • Abandoned vehicles – 5 business days

  • Launch a public-facing 311 dashboard that tracks response times and agency performance by ZIP code, so New Yorkers can see what’s getting done, and what’s being ignored.

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3. Outer Borough Priority Zones

• Designate targeted high-complaint neighborhoods in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island as Priority Zones for rapid 311 response and follow-up audits.

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4. Crack Down on Repeat Offenders

• Maintain a list of chronic violators (landlords, businesses, or property owners) who ignore citations, and escalate enforcement—fines, liens, or legal action.

 

5. Solving NYC’s Rat Problem

• Rodents are overrunning neighborhoods because of weak enforcement and bad waste​ practices. Curtis will:

  • Increase funding for extermination and pest control.

  • Encourage sealed containers for residential and commercial trash.

  • Enforce sanitation rules for restaurants, landlords, and problem buildings.

  • Provide managed cat colonies to neighborhoods with rampant rodent issues, to naturally deflect rodents from homes

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6. Addressing Noise Pollution

• Curtis will crack down on noise disturbances that make everyday life unbearable:

  • Give NYPD and DEP greater authority to issue noise violations.

  • Use decibel-based enforcement to ensure violations are measurable and defensible.

 

7. Cracking Down on Illegal Parking & Abandoned Vehicles

• Illegal parking creates danger, congestion, and frustration. Curtis will:

  • Expand heavy tow operations across all five boroughs.

  • Crack down on commercial vehicles parking overnight in residential zones.

  • Enforce rules against blocking hydrants, bike lanes, crosswalks, and bus stops.

  • Prioritize the removal of abandoned and unregistered vehicles.

 

8. Enforcing Against Illegal Vendors, Party Venues & Counterfeit Storefronts

• Illegal retail and nightlife operations are eroding public safety and disrupting communities. As Mayor, Curtis will:

  • Lead multi-agency padlock and enforcement operations with the NYC Sheriff’s Office NYPD, DEP, FDNY, DOB, and DCWP

  • Prioritize storefronts that sell to minors, violate building codes, or defy city orders.

  • Publicize enforcement actions to increase transparency and deterrence.

  • Partner with community boards and BIDs to identify chronic violators.

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9. Beautify NYC

• Restore the NYPD’s graffiti abatement unit and increase cleanup funding.

• Hold property owners accountable for chronic blight while offering city-assisted removal.

• Crack down on vandalism, tagging crews, and retail break-ins with tougher penalties and real investigations.

• Support community-based beautification and mural programs as alternatives.

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10. Regulating Street Vendors and Unlicensed Commerce

• Enforce regulations on unlicensed food carts, counterfeit merchandise vendors, and sidewalk obstruction.

• Coordinate DCWP, NYPD, and DOT enforcement in high-traffic zones and near transit  hubs.

• Protect brick-and-mortar small businesses from unfair competition.

• Support vendors who follow the rules by streamlining permits and protecting their designated areas.

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As Mayor, Curtis Sliwa will clean up New York City, block by block. His administration will tackle the chaos: trash in the streets, rats, crime, noise that keeps you up at night, illegal stores selling to kids, and being ignored by city agencies. A permanent, multi-agency Quality of Life Task Force will ensure no violation goes unchecked. No more passing the buck. No more excuses. Curtis will restore the livability, order, and respect our neighborhoods deserve.