HOUSTON – Binglewood residents are frustrated as heavy trash has been sitting on neighborhood curbs for months, overshadowing holiday decorations just days before Christmas.
What looks like a move-out day to passersby is actually piles of toilets, couches, and mattresses waiting for heavy trash pickup. These debris piles create hazards and make it unsafe for children to play outside.
Neighbors Barry Kelly and Ronald Silva, who have lived in Binglewood for over 20 years, say the trash has been accumulating since late summer. Despite multiple calls to the city promising cleanup by Thanksgiving, the trash remained, and now pickup is delayed until after Christmas.
“The last time they came here was the end of August,” Kelly said.
Silva added, “It’s too much time, you know. We understand sometimes you have problems with the trucks or the driver or whatever, but no.”
The trash includes broken furniture, splintered wood, sharp objects, and household debris, raising safety concerns. Rats have been spotted running on the mattresses near the park, adding to residents’ worries.
Kelly described the rats as “vicious — not regular rats, sewer rats.”
Silva said, “This is bad for the children. They come here to play, they hit something or cut their finger or something. It would be a lot of problems for the parents, not the city.”
Residents have learned to avoid the trash piles but want the city to act promptly.
After multiple complaints, KPRC 2 contacted the city’s solid waste department, which confirmed that heavy trash pickup is now underway. Officials said making a service request by calling 311 and obtaining a request number helps the city track complaints and speed up cleanup.