Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC community compost sites say they must shut down this weekend due to Mayor Adams' cuts
By
Verónica Del Valle
Published May 14, 2024
Modified May 14, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Sophia Chang/Gothamist
By
Verónica Del Valle
Published May 14, 2024
Modified May 14, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Dozens of community composting sites across New York City are at risk of shutting down this weekend due to Mayor Eric Adams’ budget cuts, organizers said on Tuesday.
GrowNYC, which runs composting programs around the five boroughs, has faced threats to its operations since late last year, when Adams required the sanitation department to reduce its spending by 5%, including $3 million in cuts to the composting locations.
The group managed to continue to run its sites — primarily located at greenmarkets — thanks to an anonymous donor who gave it a temporary lifeline in December. But now, as the mayor and City Council negotiate a new budget that’s due at the end of June, GrowNYC said it plans to shutter 44 of its sites by the end of Sunday.
The organization could restore their sites if funding is approved in the budget. But sanitation officials have previously argued that community composting programs are only for the “truest of true believers” because the department’s universal curbside collection program will reduce the need for them. The service is currently available in Brooklyn and Queens and is expected to expand to the other three boroughs later this year.
“New York City is committed to making composting easy and to expanding this service to everyone,” sanitation department spokesperson Joshua Goodman said.
But Eric Goldstein, an attorney with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council who is also a member of the local Save Our Compost coalition, said community composting organizations are integral to teaching residents about how composting works.
“You can't simply mandate that New Yorkers change their behavior,” he said. “You've got to show us why it's important to do so and how to participate in a composting program, and that's exactly what these community composters do.”
City data from the 2023 Mayor's Management Report suggests that composting is up year over year, with 46 million more pounds of waste collected compared to the previous fiscal year. GrowNYC and similar organizations turn the waste they collect into finished compost, which can be used as a replacement for fertilizer.
A group of 18 city councilmembers wrote a letter to Adams — shared with Gothamist on Tuesday — in which they argued that composting cuts should be off the table during budget negotiations. The group wrote that the sanitation department’s curbside composting program isn’t as effective as the community sites set up by organizations like GrowNYC.
“These are passionate workers who want to continue serving their communities and provide the education programs necessary for the city to reduce waste and increase social and climate resilience,” the letter states.
Councilmember Shaun Abreu of Manhattan, who chairs the Council's sanitation committee and signed the letter, said curbside composting won’t work if “it’s not paired with deep investments in community composting.”
GrowNYC spokesperson Nick Rolf said the organization will have to lay off more than 60 employees as its compost operation winds down.
Correction: This story was updated to clarify a DSNY statement noting how much organic waste is collected by community compost programs.
Tagged
Politics
sanitation
new york city
composting
City Council
eric adams
Verónica Del Valle
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .