Residents of Newburgh's south side say they have noticed city sanitation workers doing more in their neighborhood, including sweeping streets, sweeping sidewalks and maintaining public trash cans on a daily basis.

They say it's especially important now because the heat makes trash pungent and attract pests.

Susana Rodriguez describes a cycle, though, that the city has not been able to break after decades of trying.

Rodriguez said workers come pick up the trash, pieces of it blow around, people keep littering and the area returns to its previous state.

How can the city fix that?

"That depends on how [hard] the city works," she said in Spanish, "and what new ideas they have."

Over the last three months, sanitation workers have been issuing about two warning letters a day to compel property owners to properly close and secure their garbage.

Earlier this year, they were issuing about 10 warning letters a day.

City Councilwoman Ramona Monteverde said that drop might mean more people are complying with garbage storage regulations.

She said one clearly good sign is that every year on Earth Day, when about 200 volunteers clean up the city, they end up collecting less trash than they did the year before.

"It's less and less tonnage," she said. "We're not filling up all the dumpsters. In fact, we're finding it harder to fill up these dumpsters."

Adam Alhari, owner of New Future Deli Market on William Street for the last 25 years, said just two years ago, the trash problem was out of control.

He said daily visits from city sanitation workers instead of weekly visits have made a difference in how William Street looks and how well his business does.

"When it's cleaner, it's much better," he said. "People feel comfortable to come now. They used to complain that the garbage stinks and all that. But now it's much better."

Alhari agreed, though, the increased attention by sanitation workers is part of what should be a larger solution.

The other part, he said, is compelling residents to stop throwing trash in the street when trash cans are nearby.