The city trash industry is being monopolized by private garbage collectors. I bet you’ve never heard that sentence before.

Happening in the World: India has agreed to provide the Maldives with hundreds of millions of dollars in financial assistance to help strengthen the nation’s struggling economy. The financial aid is set to include both a $400 million currency swap deal and a 30 billion rupees swap agreement so that businesses can conduct deals in local currencies. This deal shows a recent improvement in relations between India and the Maldives, which hadn’t been in a good place since Muizzu became President in November 2023. However, it appears that the Maldives’ poor economy provoked the nation’s leaders to reconstruct their relationship and the two countries are even in talks to create a free trade agreement. (BBC)

Happening in the US: Current weather forecasts believe that Hurricane Milton is set to become a Category 5 and is on a path to Florida. The hurricane could trigger a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and mass evacuations only a few weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the area. Its center would come to shore Wednesday and would remain a Hurricane as it moves across Central Florida to the Atlantic Ocean. Residents are warned that an eight to twelve foot storm surge may occur in Tampa Bay triggering flooding with up to five to ten inches of rain in mainland Florida and the Keys. (AP)

Happening in NYC: Steven Squitieri Jr., the heir to a Bronx trash empire, is working with a connected waste hauler to create a trash collection monopoly that aims to undermine the ongoing reforms to rid the city of the corrupt private garbage industry. Squitieri’s former company, Sanitation Salvage, was shut down several years ago due to a myriad of labor, safety, and ethical violations. The organization possessed dangerous working conditions, created a sham union that was run by men with mob ties, and received accusations for undercutting the market and offering other businesses low rates for trash pickup while paying workers negligible wages. His transition over to another carting company comes just as New York City’s sanitation department has begun establishing rules to increase competition and crack down on corrupt players in the industry. (Gothamist)

Happening in Our Community: On Tuesday, October 7 from 12 to 2 pm, CRISP in Climate Overshoot is hosting President Moetai Brotherson of French Polynesia to speak on why the future of the 21st Century will be defined by the challenges facing the Pacific. The event is set to be moderated by Jenik Radon and will take place in the Forum. For more information, visit here. 

Garbage truck via Wikimedia Commons.