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David Lynch’s 1991 PSA about NYC litter is super weird and exactly what you'd expect
By
Liam Quigley
Published Jan 17, 2025
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Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
By
Liam Quigley
Published Jan 17, 2025
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A tugboat pushes a barge up the East River with the Chrysler and Empire State buildings in the background as a threatening musical ensemble crescendos.
A man looks around and furtively discards a ball of paper on the sidewalk. Then come the rats, whose appendages flail and teeth gnash as a torrent of litter tumbles to the ground.
The one-minute PSA closes with a warning “CLEAN UP” and a long-disconnected 212 number — an ending so ominous, you'd think Dennis Hopper was going to pick up the phone as he drank a PBR and huffed from a metal tank.
Visionary filmmaker David Lynch, who died this week at 78, created the ad in 1991. And as curious as it might have been for a popular Hollywood auteur to direct a sanitation PSA, it was completely in line with Lynch's unmistakable style.
The ad sparked fond memories for longtime collaborator and cinematographer Frederick Elmes, who helped create it.
“We were into narrative films, but David always loved the idea of doing short films,” he said in an interview.
Elmes — an accomplished cinematographer who worked with Lynch on cult classics like "Blue Velvet," "Eraserhead" and "Wild at Heart" — said the PSA was very different from a French perfume commercial he and Lynch had collaborated on previously.
“He got word that someone in the sanitation department wanted a PSA about the litter situation and the filth of the streets of New York and the rats that came along with that,” Elmes said.
Sanitation spokesperson Joshua Goodman said the PSA was part of an initiative created by former Mayor Ed Koch in 1982 called “We Care About New York.” The initiative, which disbanded in 1995, consisted of a group of private businesses and entities that wanted to boost the city's reputation at the time. Goodman said the commissioner responsible would have either been Brendan Sexton or Steven Polan, but both died in 2023.
Elmes said that a rat handler provided the animals.
“You need someone who can bring you rats that look like they live on the streets but are safe and can be handled safely and are not going to be harmed,” he said.
Could a similar PSA be made today? Elmes thinks so.
“I think it absolutely could. You know, it’s still a plague. It’s a problem in the city. There’s a lot of people and a lot of trash,” Elmes said.
Elmes said that he and Lynch shared an interest in the rats.
“Both David and I have a real fascination with those small rodents," he said. "Look, rats are natural characters and they’re hungry like everyone else.”
Elmes said the pay wasn’t great, but that the work was important.
“ Really there's not much money in it at all,” he said. “I think that the joy of it for me was working with David on a project that we could really, you know, sink our teeth into and create a little film that might move people.”
Tagged
sanitation
new york city
litter
rats
art
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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