Residents from a New York neighborhood are doing their part to keep their borough clean and to help protect the city's multimillion-dollar investment in avoiding stormwater floods.

In a TikTok, Jibreel Jalloh of The Flossy Org (@theflossyorg), a nonprofit based in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie, shows volunteers cleaning up some of the area's new rain gardens.

"Please, these are not garbage cans," Jalloh says. "Let's not litter. Let's not throw garbage in our rain gardens. And let's keep Canarsie flood-free."

@theflossyorg

Canarsie floods when it pours—just like it did this past week. This spring, the city invested $42 million into green infrastructure. Each rain garden holds up to 2,500 gallons of stormwater, helping prevent flooding. But they only work if we keep them clean. We've noticed trash piling up in these spaces, so we're launching a PSA campaign: don't throw garbage in the rain gardens. Let's protect what'll protecting our homes and businesses against flooding. We'll keep organizing for the long haul—for stronger infrastructure, for climate justice, and for a flood-free Canarsie. Let's all do our part.

♬ luther - ZAKISZK

Cleaning up litter and keeping the environment clean is a laudable goal anytime but especially so with these specially designed gardens.

Earlier this year, New York City finished a $42.3 million infrastructure project designed to reduce street flooding in Canarsie and East Flatbush, another Brooklyn neighborhood. Key to this project are 291 rain gardens and 906 infiltration basins, which each year are projected to capture about 122 million gallons of water.

Rain gardens look like typical tree-lined areas, but each one is specially designed to store up to 2,500 gallons of rainwater underground.

"Stronger and more frequent storms are felt more acutely with every passing year," New York Deputy Mayor for Operations Jeff Roth said in a news release. "We need to bring every resource we have to bear to protect communities from the water that laps at our shores and inundates us from above."

In recent years, storms such as Hurricane Ida have made national headlines when they hit New York, and the city is susceptible to flash flooding that can make streets and subway stations dangerous.

And as more heat-trapping gases get released into the atmosphere, leading to record-breaking temperatures, these storms and floods will likely get worse. One expert has called rising global temperatures "steroids for weather," as they make extreme weather events happen with more frequency and severity.

All this makes New York City's investment, and The Flossy Organization's work to keep the rain gardens clean, so important. Cleaning up these rain gardens doesn't just keep neighborhoods beautiful, but it also keeps residents safe and dry.

"Oh wow, I never knew they had such an important purpose," one commenter wrote. "Thanks for keeping them clean."

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