Venice thanks Councilman Mike Bonin and Venice Deputy Cecilia Castello for this cleanup. The people who live on the street were particularly grateful.

Before

After

West and east sides of street.

Officer Gonzalo Barriga, Environmental Compliance Inspector, records contents of the debris on paper and camera. Biohazard crew checks the contents.

After that the Green Machine takes over. Update dubbed them the Green Machine because they operated like a bunch of determined pac-men disposing of the stuff. The Green Machine is a group of students who were hired for the summer by the Conservation Corps. They wore green t-shirts. Their job is to clean up alleys and streets like this for the City. They operate mainly in Watts, according to their supervisor Gloria. Gloria, in brown t-shirt and hardly in any photos, was in charge. “It gives them some money and some work,” she said. They pushed the stuff off the curb, then shoveled it into the garbage truck. Then they swept the sidewalk clean. There was very little chitty-chat amongst them. They were too busy. They were the muscles behind this operation.

Biohazard men pick up toilet paper on private property as a courtesy.

Sharp things have a special disposal.

Biohazard crew stands beside three bags that were tagged for storage.

Two girls who gathered as many things as they wanted before the items were to be garbaged or bagged and tagged. They were both happy the cleanup was happening.

Shawn, who lives on the street, claps his hands for the group for cleaning “his” street. He watched the complete operation. He was so glad it was being cleaned. He just couldn’t say enough about it.

A man who works at Rose Café passed by to take a photo. He confided that it had been so dirty.