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Trash bag piles to be banned in front of all NYC businesses
By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 19, 2023
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Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress via Getty Images
By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 19, 2023
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Mountains of trash will be banned from sidewalks in front of every New York City business starting next March, Mayor Adams announced Tuesday.
The mayor said all commercial establishments will instead be required to put their garbage in lidded bins as part of an expansion of regulations that went into effect this month requiring all food-related and chain businesses to put their trash out in cans.
“All of those black bags will be off our streets,” Adams said during a news conference outside the Gray’s Papaya hot dog shop on the Upper West Side. “Our streets will look cleaner. It will smell cleaner, and across not just the borough of Manhattan, but across the entire five boroughs of New York. No one is going to have to worry about dodging or tripping over these garbage bags.”
Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the policy aims to cut off rats' food sources and claimed the rodents “are already on the run.”
An estimated 20 million pounds of commercial trash is generated across the five boroughs daily — about half of the city’s total trash output, according to the mayor’s office.
Businesses must pay for private garbage collection, a process that the sanitation department is also slowly reforming.
Shop owners will have some flexibility regarding the type of garbage cans they use, as long they have lids and “secure sides that keep rats out,” according to the sanitation department. The bins can be stored inside the businesses or within 3 feet of their property lines.
New Yorkers can still put trash bags on the sidewalks in front of their homes, but new rules that went into effect this year mandate that residential garbage can't be put out before 8 p.m. if it's not in a container.
Adams said the new sanitation policies are working, with rat reports to 311 down 20% this summer compared to last summer. Enforcement has also ramped up: City data shows 393,940 sanitation-related tickets were issued last year, a nearly 65% increase in summonses over the past year.
Tisch said the city will begin issuing warnings to businesses before the new rules go into effect next March. Noncompliant business owners could face a $50 ticket for their first violation, $100 for a second and $200 if they’re caught piling up trash bags three or more times.
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new york city
sanitation
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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