Not since Oscar the Grouch debuted on “Sesame Street” has a city had cause to be so excited about what’s inside a receptacle.
Before our eyes, the mountains of trash-filled plastic bags on curbs that have long typified New York exceptionalism in the worst sense of the word are starting to go away, replaced with something known as garbage cans. Even if that turns out to be Eric Adams’ sole lasting legacy as mayor, it will be a worthwhile one.
As of the start of March, all businesses in the five boroughs must put out their trash in bins that seal — the type that are taken for granted in rural areas and suburbs and cities across Planet Earth. Food-related businesses had already been required to containerize starting last August, and chain stores in September. Now, all commercial trash is subject to the mandate, which means that about half the refuse in the city will be much tougher for rats to access.
Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch, just two years on the job, is pushing ahead with the pretty simple but sizable feat of doing away with the garbage blobs on curb after curb after curb. Applause, please.
That’s not all that’s changing with commercial trash. Starting in September, the free-for-all whereby private carters roam the city to serve clients in a terribly inefficient manner will start giving way to a system of zones, where different swaths of the city are served by a limited set of dedicated providers. If it works, that’ll reduce tons of truck trips and the congestion and noise and energy waste and safety hazards that go along with them.
The next battle is getting residential trash put in containers, and ideally ones that can be picked up by robot arms. That’ll be a significant challenge given New York’s crowded, narrow streets and curbs and sidewalks, but it’s not insurmountable.
New York does not have alleys behind every street, like many other cities do. Apartment living, as opposed to individual houses, is a complicating factor, as is the prevalence of curbside parking making it harder for garbage trucks to maneuver since private driveways are not routine in New York.
A containerization pilot for large residential buildings in West Harlem worked nicely and is going to get rolled out more broadly starting this fall. That’ll leave smaller buildings, the biggest challenge but a more manageable one given the momentum of reform.
Ideas like this are easy. Implementation is much harder. So we’ll be closely watching as they scale up along with mandatory composting this fall.
If New Yorkers don’t bother to comply and government has no effective response to bring them along, it could wind up being a misuse of resources that feeds broader cynicism. But if the rollout is reasonably smooth and participation is widespread — and if all this compliance makes it harder for rats to feast, reducing the rodent population — it’ll be a feather in the cap of the mayor and his commissioner, one that boosts the belief that there when all is said and done, are no truly intractable problems in New York.
Take that cynical belief, ball it up and throw it in the garbage. Then seal it.
