Garbage Offensive

Garbage Offensive
Photo of the Garbage Offensive taken by photographer Hiram Maristany
Date	July 27, 1969 – September 2, 1969
Location	East Harlem, New York, U.S.
Caused by	Failure of New York City Department of Sanitation to adequately collect garbage in East Harlem
Resulted in	Initial systemic changes, including improved collection schedules, the introduction of plastic garbage bags, and alternate-side parking Long-term return to irregular garbage collection
Parties
New York Young Lords Residents of East Harlem Government of New York City New York City Department of Sanitation New York Fire Department New York Police Department
Lead figures
Felipe Luciano John Lindsay

The Garbage Offensive was a community service initiative that evolved into a series of protests that occurred throughout the summer of 1969 in East Harlem, New York, United States.^[1] The offensive was organized by the New York Young Lords, a newly-formed civil rights organization. The Young Lords, after consulting with neighborhood residents, decided to address neglect on the part of the New York City Department of Sanitation in East Harlem, which was a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood where uncollected garbage was a significant concern. After being denied cleaning supplies by the sanitation department, the Young Lords organized weekly street cleanups in East Harlem to engage the community, but these efforts failed to attract significant attention.

Beginning on July 27, 1969, the Young Lords and East Harlem residents engaged in escalating garbage-dumping protests, obstructing major intersections with barricades and garbage piles. The protests intensified on August 17, with protesters setting garbage on fire across East Harlem. The next day, Young Lords spokesman Felipe Luciano outlined demands on behalf of the protesters, which included daily garbage collection, street cleaning, increased sanitation resources, greater diversity in employment, higher wages for sanitation workers, and the elimination of corruption within the sanitation workforce. As a result, the city instituted systemic sanitation reforms, though some of these measures were later reversed. The protests ended on September 2.

Many historians consider the Garbage Offensive a critical event for the Young Lords, with some arguing that the protests demonstrated their ability to connect local grievances to systemic issues. Others argue that the critical aspect of the offensive lay in its symbolic demonstration of decolonial action, which resulted in a shift in the community's consciousness and shaped subsequent advocacy efforts. Photographs of the protests were exhibited throughout East Harlem in 2019 as part of the exhibit Mapping Resistance: The Young Lords in El Barrio.