NYC takes next major step toward getting trash off streets and into containers

An uptown Manhattan community board district is set to become the first in the city where trash containerization will be universally mandated under a plan rolled out by Mayor Adams on Thursday.

Under current rules, most household and commercial trash is left on curbs for pickup by the Sanitation Department. But sanitation advocates have long pushed for ending the messy sidewalk system in favor of a containerization model, which is used in many other parts of the world and requires that trash be placed in rodent-sealed containers for pickup.

Adams has previously implemented containerization pilot programs in some neighborhoods in the city. On Thursday morning, he announced he’s taking it a step further by making Manhattan’s Community Board 9 — which spans West Harlem, Morningside Heights, Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights — the first CB district in the city where the bin-based model will be mandated.

“That will include the use of stationary, on-street containers, like those you might see in a European or in Asian cities. They should not be ahead of us — we need to lead from the front,” the mayor said at a press conference outside the Sanitation Department’s main garage on Manhattan’s west side.

Advocates have called on Adams to make containerization universal across the entire city, arguing it’ll help with eradicating rats and clear up space for pedestrians on sidewalks. While he has voiced support for the concept, the mayor hasn’t laid out a timeline for when universal containerization could be achieved.

The latest announcement comes after Adams in October unveiled a plan that’ll require landlords of all residential buildings with nine or fewer units to containerize their tenants’ trash. That plan is supposed to take effect this fall.

Installation of Sanitation Department-certified containers will start in spring 2025 across CB9. If all goes according to plan, mandatory containerization in the CB will then take effect in late 2025, according to an internal advisory obtained by the Daily News.

CB9 is already participating in a 10-block containerization pilot, which appears to have helped with driving down rat complaints in the area, according to City Hall data. Since taking over the reins at City Hall, killing rodents has been a big focus for Adams, who as Brooklyn borough president showcased a macabre rat trap that plunges the four-legged creatures into a vat of toxic goo.

Adams and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the administration’s able to expand the pilot to the entire district because the Sanitation Department solidified purchases quicker than expected of automated, side-loading garbage trucks required for collecting trash from containerization bins. Tisch and Adams oversaw a demonstration of one of the behemoth vehicles emptying a bin during Thursday’s press conference.

“We have a new super weapon in the fight against filth,” Tisch said of the trucks.

Adams has made sanitation one of his key focuses since taking office in January 2022.

The Sanitation Department was among just a handful of agencies that Adams spared from steep budget cuts announced in November.

In a letter to agency heads at the time, Jacques Jiha, Adams’ budget director, wrote that the mayor decided to exempt the Sanitation Department from the belt-tightening “out of concern that additional budget cuts at this time” could impact “cleanliness.”