Ladies and gentlemen, behold NYC’s first official trash bin!
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ war on trash continues with the unveiling of the city’s very first official garbage bin, a wheeled container featuring a rat-proof lid that all buildings with one to nine residential units will be required to use starting November 12.
Special use buildings that receive New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) collection (think houses of worship, city agency buildings and more) will also be required to store their garbage in these new containers, finally forced not to pile it in bags on the street, starting mid-November.
According to an official press release, the bins, which are available for about $50 online right here, are cheaper than most others of this size. They also boast a bar that will make it easier for the agency to collect them using the new “tipper” garbage trucks that officials recently unveiled.
“NYC-branded wheeled containers, custom designed to work with our trucks, are the key to keeping our most precious real estate—New York City sidewalks—clear,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi in an official statement. “With over 70 percent of New York City’s trash contained, the Adams administration and the hardworking men and women of DSNY are defying the odds and the naysayers and winning the ‘trash revolution.’”
It’s important to note that the new rule only applies to trash and compostable material. That being said, matching green and blue NYC bins—meant to collect paper, metal, glass, plastic and cartons—are also available for purchase on the above-mentioned website. Make sure to order your picks by October 1 for guaranteed deliver by November 12, when the new guidelines go into effect.
Of course, it’ll be some time until the novel processes are fully implemented, but just in case you need a bit more convincing: the fine for leaving trash on the street rather than one of these secure bins is $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second and $200 for any other time after that. It all adds up, so go ahead and start ordering your new garbage can.
Let’s be honest: the NYC Bin looks like… any other properly constructed outdoor garbage collection device we’ve ever seen. That’s not bad, but forgive us for wondering why it took so long to get all those piles of trash currently sitting in the middle of New York off of our curbs. It’s about time officials actually did something about it.