Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City

Many people would be surprised (maybe even shocked) to learn that being a sanitation worker in New York City is more dangerous than being a policeman or a firefighter. I certainly didn't know as much before reading this book. And yet, despite the near-heroic work done by sanitation engineers, when a young and idealistic kid talks about the kind of job he might want to do when he grows up, something like firefighter or policeman tends to make the list right after a gig like astronaut, while "garbageman" is usually held in reserve as an insult, not a potential occupation.Robin Nagle's "Picking Up" is a solid sociological/anthropological exploration of this paradox of the sanitation worker, who performs one of the most essential services not just in the city but for civilization itself (trash piling up can lead to plagues). It is a job that, despite its importance, remains at best invisible to most, and at worst is something we denigrate as gross.It is gross, sometimes (i.e. the bumper crops of "urban whitefish," i.e. masses of used condoms), but it's also compelling and fascinating stuff. The section on the Sanitation Department's role during snowstorms was especially worth the read. "Picking up," however, seems to come up *just* short of being a classic foray into the genre, if for no other reason than that none of the workers involved ever achieve enough form to become memorable in their own right as personae in the drama playing out on the pages. Still, provided the reader doesn't go in expecting Ted Connover, this is solid bit of "immersive journalism." Recommended. No photos.

It's difficult for anyone to imagine a good book about trash... call it refuse, rubbish or garbage, whatever you might like. However, sometimes one can be quite surprised, even as a New Yorker.Author Robin Nagle's  Picking Up  is about the DSNY, the City of New York's Department of Sanitation, and it's an interesting and sometimes fascinating book. As the subtitle "On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City" suggests, this one takes you down to the road level where the trash bags, garbage cans and dumpsters exist, waiting their scheduled pickup.Ms. Nagle teaches anthropology at New York University, and has been anthropologist-in-residence at the DSNY since 2006. After reading this book, it isn't hard to be a bit more grateful of the efforts of the men and women who clean up after us, regardless of where you live. These unsung heroes are essential to us, unless you're one of those who has to take your own trash to a municipal dump or some such suburban facility.As one reads the pages of this work, it becomes amazing to realize that Manhattan Island itself has historically been extended into both the Hudson and East Rivers by building on its own trash. The author does an excellent job of covering the role of the long history of sanitation and its workers in the Borough of New York, going from such topics as 17th-centuryNew Amsterdam's ban on scavenging pigs to Street Commissioner George E. Waring Jr.'s spotless White Wings cleaning crews at the turn of the 20th century. The author also looks at the command breakdown that tarnished the reputation of the DSNY after the 2010 blizzard.She reveals that the DSNY has its own fascinating jargon: "getting banged" is undergoing corrective disciplinary measures and "disco rice" refers to maggots. The term "mongo" refers to objects salvaged by sanitation workers from the trash, and can be used as either a noun or as a verb. In addition, sanitation workers should be referred to as "san men" and not as "garbage men."We are reminded that sanitation workers have a higher on-the-job death rate than any other uniformed department in the city, firefighters and police officers and firefighters included. They have one of the 10 deadliest jobs in America, due to traffic accidents and exposure to toxic waste, yet their responsibilities are not at all as respected, much less admired. She quotes a sanitation worker: "You can go your whole life without ever having to call a cop. And you can also go your whole life without ever calling a fireman. But you need a sanitation worker every single day."Ms. Nagle's book is not just to make us more aware of sanitation workers. She reminds us that they are New York's Most Essential. She writes: "Sanitation is the most important uniformed force on the street." Picking Up  is the result not just of Ms. Nagle's years researching the New York Department of Sanitation, but of a deeply-rooted preoccupation with trash that dates back to her own childhood. She has taken a topic that many of us would pass on, thinking that it would be boring or perhaps even disgusting, but instead we find a book that reads like a novel. Open it and you'll find (and pardon the pun) that it's a good trashy read.5/10/2013

I am one of those people who put out a Christmas gift for the garbage collectors in my suburban neighborhood (in Central NY). I have always had an appreciation for the people who haul away our refuse. I knew it was a tough, thankless, dangerous job & this book confirms my belief that wtihout trash collectors we would all be up to our necks in crappola. Rare is the writer who literally jumps into the job to be able to report the inside perspective that only BEing there can provide. Amazing to me that women do this job. I know -- but I am older & come from a different generation even tho I too worked a rather physical job when I was younger. It's brutal & wears you out even on the best days. The writing here is smooth, well researched, & nicely balances historical information & current issues.It is informative w/o being dull & covers a wide range of topics.Probably doesn't go into the "politics" of the biz enough but do we really want to be dragged down with too much of that?? Nah. Tell us the nitty-gritty true life on the streets stories of the men & women who keep NYC functioning w/ little or no thanks for their non-stop efforts in all seasons & under all weather conditions. As much as the author covered in this book I'll just bet she's got another book worth of great stories that she could share with us. And you can learn a lot from the footnotes & glossary! Nicely done. It's lovely to enjoy a non-fiction book that reads like a novel. She cared enough to get it right.

While I've read casual reviews on different sites of this book that express some sense of disappointment at this not being a history of the DSNY, it is important to note that this is an ethnography about the work of cleaning up performed by Sanitation workers in NYC. Two of the chapters are more specifically historical, but the rest of the book deals with the various themes of special importance to garbage men (since the department is mostly made up of men). Dr. Nagle does a wonderful job at putting the reader behind the wheel of the truck, along with her, as she performs the difficult job of picking up the city's trash. The reader ponders waste with her, inhales the sweet and rotten smells of our city's trash, and eavesdrops on the mysterious world of a very private Department of Sanitation. The writing is very much like the author's speech, making this an especially readable urban ethnography.

what a book!!!! One part history of NYC's sanitation problems and solutions. Another part the life and struggles of those working to clear NYC streets of garbage with little to no recognition of their hard work. A really insightful and respectful look at New York's strongest.Recently visited New York where snow storms and freezing temps were battering the city and we saw these guys out each day clearing the streets. Next up lets have a book about MTA workers!!

The book is very detailed and is excellent to support my University course for my Bsc in wastes management and pollution control.

Fascinating ethnographic account on the daily lives of sanitation workers in Gotham city, which otherwise gets invisibled in the fast pace consumerist lifestyle. We tend to focus only on the newness of things and forget about the things we dispose in daily lives. Nagel's work closely looks at after-life of wasted materials, processes of waste management post disposal and how the lives of sanitation workers get shaped by these processes.

the first half of the book is really interesting, then it starts to wander. the conclusion is just sort of m'eh. Feels like something was missing.

Picking-up is a fantastic accounts of the relevance of garbage and other waste collection in our cities; it underlines the hidden difficulties of the job and it explains while citizens should be aware that an environmentally and health sound waste management begins with a proper collection.