Paterson Public Works Department

"Paterson sanitation department is horrible, the guys on the back of the trucks are lazy They leave trash in the garbage cans, they throw your cans back on the sidewalk or in the street, they leave garbage on the streets and this is what we pay taxes for? Paterson needs to do better."

"Paterson DPW work is excellent. They always respond quickly. Few weeks ago they trimmed the tree that was in front of my house and they did their work nicely and cleaned everything around the sidewalk. I appreciate their work."

"The guys who take the trash keep getting worse. They drive down the center of the road blocking traffic from both ends, they make more messes by breaking garbage bags, they toss the garbage bins all over the place most of the times hitting parked cars & never put them back in their rightful spots. A lot of times they just pass on by if the garbage in one spot seems like it’s too much for them. Some people on my block even bribe them with cash so they can take all their garbage & that’s not right at all!! .. They’re also very aggressive towards people walking & driving by, almost as if no one should be out when they’re around, idk but they need to do something about the people they hire because they’re just looking for problems instead of doing their jobs."

"They deserve one star because they answered the phone quickly, but Wanda was very rude and she hung up the phone while I was still speaking. Paterson is frowned upon by many people and it's due to people not caring from residents to public employees. Customer service for DPW is bad."

"Paterson PWD employees stole and vandalized personal belongings that were on private property. When I called to complain and try to get things back before they were dumped I was treated with evasion and rudeness. PPWD employees had come to clean up the vacant lot next door. A neighbor and I had been gardening in big containers at the edge of the lot, so we moved all the containers and gardening equipment and some small plants out of the lot and up against our building. The PPWD employees came and cleaned garbage from 3/4 of the lot, then left. A while later others came back and apparently started mistakenly cleaning out my belongings on our property. They moved heavy containers of soil back into the vacant lot and started dumping the soil out on the ground. They took away my garden hose and tools and about 20 gals. of purchased garden soil with added plant food. I don't know if they realized their mistake or if it just got dark, but they left without putting anything back. They still haven't finished cleaning the lot. This occurred on Thurs. April 26. I called the next morning thinking I might have a chance to get my things back. I spoke to three different people in the morning. By 4:30 pm I still hadn't been called back. I called and spoken to a woman who identified herself as office manager. She answered every question by saying she didn't know because she hadn't been there and didn't"