The amount of filth, trash, disease, and other unpleasant things used to be pretty crazy in NYC (and in other places like London or Paris, for that matter.)
Are you familiar with how squalid the conditions were for many people in the early 20th century? It was a whole lot worse than "trash in the street." More like, animals rotting in the street, ten people living in a studio apartment with no windows or fresh air, diseases widespread, people working 15 hour days in brutal conditions, etc.