After years of complaints from these quarters, the City Council seems to have kicked the dirty habit of plastering members' names on garbage cans.
The good news comes from the new list of Council slush fund projects - which shows that while four members have allocated tax dollars for extra street baskets, using them as free, publicly funded advertising isn't so popular anymore.
That's a break from the past 15 years, when the Council and one borough president spent more than $1 million - including $56,000 last year - to pay for thousands of cans with labels like "Sponsored by Council Member So and So."
This year's garbage cans are largely name-free.
Brooklyn's Letitia James details her $3,000 item as "High-End Litter Baskets without the Council Member's name." Brava!
Said Eric Ulrich of Queens ($25,000 for 50 baskets on 101st Ave. in Ozone Park): "Why would anyone want their name on something that trash gets thrown in?"
Speaker Chris Quinn put in for $7,500 for receptacles in Murray Hill. Her spokesman said Quinn's name won't be on the cans.
The last member, Larry Seabrook of the Bronx, has set aside $15,000 for baskets for his district. We don't know his naming plans because his office didn't return calls yesterday.
Now that the practice appears over, the Council should outright ban it. City government sponsors enough garbage already.
