By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Albuquerque’s most notorious twin hitmen return Saturday, and this time they have one target: your trash.
Volunteers can pick up gloves and bags at five hubs across the city for Imagine ABQ Day, a citywide cleanup running 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 26. Afterward they can meet Breaking Bad’s Salamanca Twins at three stops.
The City Council proclaimed the last Saturday of every September as Imagine ABQ Day. This year marks the fifth, and organizers are billing it as the biggest yet, according to the group’s operations plan.
Hubs at two fire stations, Nob Hill, Barelas and the Bosque will hand out supplies, take in full bags and match solo volunteers with groups. The fire station crews will set up on side streets so they don’t block 911 calls.
The Barelas hub, led by the Office of the Governor, plans a mural reveal, a community walk and a press conference with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The twins front the state’s Breaking Bad Habits anti-litter campaign. Real-life brothers Daniel and Luis Moncada play the pair, known on the show as The Cousins.
The campaign has plenty to show for it. In 2025 it coordinated 250 cleanups with 190 local groups, including Imagine ABQ, and more than 19,000 volunteers hauled away over 10.5 million pounds of litter, the governor’s office reported.
Imagine ABQ grew from an idea by Albuquerque Fire Department chaplain David Meyers and Larry “Lencho” Espinoza. It’s now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with 11 board members. Its work also includes murals, pathways and makeovers of neglected spaces.
Imagine ABQ Day: Saturday, Sept. 26
Cleanup hubs (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.): pick up supplies, drop off trash
- Fire Station 12: 201 Muriel St NE (set up on Linn Avenue)
- Fire Station 5: 123 Dallas St NE (set up on Chico Road)
- Nob Hill: Next Chapter Studios, 109 Hermosa Dr SE
- Barelas: Revamp Upholstery, 916 4th St SW
- Bosque: Sunset and Central
Meet the Salamanca Twins
- Barelas: 10:30 a.m. to noon, 507 4th St SW (across from Por Vida Coffee). Free
- Nob Hill: 1 to 3 p.m., Imagine ABQ Celebration, Triangle Park, 2901 Central Ave NE. Free
- NM United Game Night: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., The Lab, 1601 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE. Ticketed
Online: imagineabq.com | breakingbadhabits.nm.gov
Donate: imagineabq.com