Team takes on gum-busting mission in White Plains

A team of workers in White Plains has a new weapon to wipe out the problem of sticky gum on the city’s sidewalks.
The crew of “gum busters” trace up and down Mamaroneck Avenue three times a week using a special tool to blast away all of the unwanted tar-like goo.
The Business Improvement District’s executive director Kevin Nunn says the device creates high-pressured steam that also dispenses a chemical solution. He says when it’s dispensed onto its target, it basically vaporizes the gum.
The average person chews 280 sticks of gum a year, but News 12 was told that up to 80 percent of it fails to find its way to a garbage can. The gum is not only sticky, but it has been shown to contain thousands of strains of bacteria, including e-coli.