From the Herald News

Paterson man sweeping neighborhood clean
 By ALEXANDER MacINNES, STAFF WRITER
Paterson resident’s one-man crusade to keep city clean may — officials hope — be rubbing off

PATERSON — It’s 4:50 a.m. and the lights in Michael Wilson’s two-family home on East 22nd Street are among the few burning in a city largely asleep.

Ten minutes later, Wilson lumbers down his front porch in a zip-up sweatshirt, left open, and an army-green winter hat. He’s ready to work for an hour, cleaning up after others, before he leaves at 6 a.m. for his job.

A truck driver who delivers Dumpsters to construction sites during the day, Wilson, 52, has spent the last two years sweeping up the city streets — a one-man public works department for a neighborhood he still loves after 44 years.

“It makes you feel good when you come home from work and don’t see no damn garbage around,” Wilson said Thursday. “That’s the way it should be.”

What started as something to do while walking his German shepherd, Spider, has grown into a grass-roots campaign, with Wilson spending his own money for curb-side garbage cans and public awareness signs imploring others to “Please, Help Keep Paterson Clean.” 

Today, those professionally designed placards are attached to fences and businesses around the lower-Eastside section near School 13, a neighborhood of two-family houses. Because of his dedication and strong sense of community pride, Wilson has started talking with city leaders about trying to replicate his example in other parts of the city. Some city officials are now considering a plan to supply residents and business owners with brooms and garbage pails as a low-cost, anti-litter initiative.

Still, others hope Wilson’s example in the 5th Ward can help change ingrained habits of pitching bottles and sandwich wrappers on sidewalks.

Until that happens, city leaders want to push homeowners and renters to take care of their outdoor space.

“If people get motivated to clean a few feet of sidewalk or front lawn, that’s what I’m looking for,” said 5th Ward Councilman Julio Tavarez. “People see him willing and able to clean blocks of property, they could clean their own property.”

Wilson’s own drive to clean is rooted in his family tree. Keeping a deliberate pace in the early morning cold on Thursday, Wilson talks about his “gramps,” Isaac Wilson, a man who worked 16-hour-days in a Garfield paper mill. Wilson lives today in the house his grandparents bought in 1964, and he can point out those houses where his grandparents’ friends still live.

Back when Wilson and his siblings were growing up, the Wonder Bread factory abutted their backyard garden, and Isaac Wilson would trade factory workers some fresh tomatoes or collard greens for baked rolls or sliced bread.

Wilson remembers his grandfather always sweeping the front of their house, but rarely beyond the immediate vicinity.

“He wouldn’t come all the way down (the block) like I do, because it wasn’t as bad,” Wilson said.

Jerome Moore, who grew up with Wilson, said that during the 1960s, it was not uncommon to see neighbors pitching in together.

“Back in the ’60s, my father was out there too, with (Wilson’s) grandfather, keeping that area clean,” Moore said. “I’m proud of him.”

On his regular tour these days, Wilson walks past the chain-link fence surrounding the empty Wonder Bread lot, an area hard to keep clear of blowing plastic bags and coupon fliers for C-Town Supermarket.

Those fliers rankle him, because the stores pay workers to pass them out in the street, he said. He has no tolerance for store owners who make money selling food to kids, but don’t sweep in front of their businesses. Don’t get him started on garbage men who fling debris while cleaning up or city workers who ignore violations.

Throw the book at all of them, no warnings or friends in high places or looking the other way, he believes.

Robert Miller, Wilson’s next-door neighbor, who has been in the neighborhood for 42 years, commended the dedication.

“He has helped out tremendously,” Miller said. “And he’ll get on a neighbor for dropping paper if he sees them.”

“Yeah, we don’t live in Franklin Lakes and Wayne, but this is our Franklin Lakes,” he said pointing to his street. “So we got to keep it clean.”

After awhile, another motive surfaces for his dedication.

“I got lady friends who live in different towns, so when they come to Paterson I want them to see it clean,” he said with a smile.

Still, it does not take long for Wilson to grow serious again.

“This is your community,” he said. “You got to want to care a little bit.”