NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Singer Boy George cursed and swept dirt at reporters just after he started his first day of community service at the sanitation department in New York.
"Have some dirt!" yelled the 45-year-old singer, as he swept dust onto reporters near the on-ramp to the FDR drive near the Brooklyn Bridge. "Do you think you're better than me?"
Born George O'Dowd, the British pop star had been sentenced to a week of community service after filing a false police report.
"I feel pathetic," O'Dowd told reporters who crowded around him as he tried to push a city-issued trashcan to the curb.
Sanitation officials pulled George and two young co-cleaners off the streets after just two trips outside.
"It's a safety issue," said Deputy Chief Albert Durrell, who pulled back the sanitation van that was supposed to shuttle O'Dowd and the gang around Chinatown for their 8-hour shift.
