As part of the City’s strategy to “clean” the City of rats, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Thursday the launch of the next two phases in the war on rodents. .
The new points announced by the authorities have to do with removing garbage bags from the city’s sidewalks. First, the Adams administration is issuing a final rule requiring all food-related businesses to place waste in secure containers.
Second, the City is beginning the rulemaking process on a new proposal to expand container requirements to all retail chains with five or more New York City locations.
The goal is that when both initiatives are implemented, they will cover 25% of the businesses in the five boroughs and place approximately 4 million pounds of waste produced each day in safe places, which will make the streets of the City of New York cleaner and more welcoming.
“New York City used to be known for our bad streets, but in the future, we will be known for our clean streets,” Mayor Adams said in a statement.
“Today, we take giant steps toward that goal by announcing new binning rules for our city that, when finalized, will cover 25% of businesses and result in millions of pounds of trash being dumped in safe places. every day. These two simple proposals will have a game-changing effect on our city and eliminate the mountains of bagged food waste on our sidewalks, making our streets cleaner for New Yorkers and less inviting to rats.” official.
“We got rid of an old way of doing things, where some trash was scheduled to sit on the curb for up to 32 hours until the end of the next day,” Commissioner Tisch said.
“We now have 2,000 of the largest residential buildings on special hours, for immediate collection, and we are collecting up to 30 percent of trash in high-density areas on our midnight shift, which means most New Yorkers don’t even notice,” he explained.
This past spring, DSNY released a roughly 100-page report called, “The Future of Trash,” which provides the first detailed block-by-block analysis of what it would take to pick up black bags of trash and that they become a free buffet for rats
While most of the report focused on the 24 million pounds of residential waste that DSNY collects each day, it also explored solutions for dealing with commercial waste that can account for up to eight times the volume of residential waste in certain business districts.
“Today’s rules take us one step closer to the end of the garbage bag mountains and the beginning of a containerized city,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “I am grateful to Mayor Adams, the Department of Sanitation and our partners in the restaurant and food industry for helping us give New Yorkers back their sidewalks and rid their all-you-can-eat buffet of rats.”
In May, DSNY proposed a rule requiring all food-related businesses, including restaurants, caterers, supermarkets, delis, and bodegas, among others, to place trash and compostable material in secure bins instead of leaving them behind. directly on the street. There are approximately 40,000 food-related businesses in the five boroughs, 20% of all businesses in the city, and these types of businesses were selected first because they produce a lot of waste, especially waste that attracts rats.
Under these two rules, companies will have substantial flexibility in the type and location of bins, as long as they have a secure lid and sides that keep rats out. Containers can be stored on or within three feet of the property line.