If I had a dime for every time I read or heard a pompous leftist from a blue state talk about how much more "advanced" and "sophisticated" their states supposedly are in comparison to red states, especially those here in the South, I'd be able to retire early on and live quite comfortably.
Undoubtedly, those same people would assume that their places of residence were on the cutting edge of technology in all things, including city/county garbage trucks that have automated side loaders that pick up the cans without sanitation workers having to do much--if any--of the heavy lifting.
In fact, such a scenario is playing out as we speak in New York City, where on Thursday, our purported intellectual betters debuted such a truck surrounded by much hoopla, with music playing, cameras rolling, photographers snapping pictures, and politicos smiling and posing for photo ops while holding bags of trash:
The trucks, which are still undergoing testing, will be able to hoist on-street containers the city will eventually require high-density buildings to use to store trash, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference in Manhattan’s Hudson Square Thursday.
Reporters got a demonstration of one truck’s bin-hoisting abilities just before the mayor’s announcement.
“The truck you see next to me,” Adams said, pointing to the vehicle, “represents the future of New York City garbage collection.”
The new trucks will be able to collect trash “substantially faster” than manual pickup allows, City Hall said in a news release.
For anyone insanely curious as to what the trucks look like, watch:
Here’s a demo of New York City’s new automatic side loading garbage truck lifting large on street containers. A pilot program is expanding to all of Community Board District 9 in West Harlem. pic.twitter.com/d9NmXaupOC
— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) February 1, 2024
In other words, it's... very similar to trucks that have been in American cities--small and large alike--going back decades collecting trash on the designated day of the week.
Amazingly (but not surprisingly), city officials consulted with so-called experts in Europe regarding the particulars of how to manufacture such a truck.
"Sanitation officials have been meeting with experts from Turin, Italy, and rushing to create the prototype truck, which uses a joystick to control the side loader," the New York Times reported. "Next, they will move to buy European-style containers."
Your tax dollars hard at work, folks!
As one might imagine, the mockery was pretty intense in reaction to not just the trucks but all the fanfare surrounding them.
"Watching New York debut technology from the last millennium is objectively funny," conservative commentator Becket Adams opined. "The camera crews, the self-glorying pop song; just layers of comedy."
"I’m also hearing they’ll soon release a directory of peoples’ names and phone numbers," the Free Beacon's Chuck Ross quipped.
Here's an early version of what an automated side-loader looked like at the time, for those interested:
This is the first generation of Automated Side Loaders, introduced to Scottsdale, AZ as codename "Godzilla" in 1969. 300 gallon container pickup! pic.twitter.com/av0UsDqgGp
— Paul E Williams (@PEWilliams_) February 1, 2024
It always amazed me every time I visited NYC to see the bags of trash piled up on city streets. I always wondered why it was that way there, and I've read a mixture of possible reasons why (I'm sure commenters will be able to shed more light on this), with one of them being that unions opposed the automated trucks because they would mean fewer workers needed for trash pick up.
In any event, welcome to the 21st century, NYC. Maybe next year at this time, you'll discover the wonders of HVAC, or microwave ovens, or light bulbs, or...
Flashback-->> WATCH: After Humiliating Census Figures Released, Eric Adams Blames NYC Exodus in Part on... Rats
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