{"id":37138,"date":"2025-06-05T13:41:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T13:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=37138"},"modified":"2025-06-05T13:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T13:41:17","slug":"next-phase-of-trash-revolution-begins-in-west-harlem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/37138","title":{"rendered":"Next phase of trash revolution begins in West Harlem"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: \u00a0New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Acting Commissioner Javier Lojan today announced that \u2014 following the installation of approximately 1,100 on-street containers for residential trash from the largest buildings \u2014 100 percent of trash in Manhattan Community Board 9 is now covered by containerization requirements, ushering in a new era of clean sidewalks, clear corners, and fewer rats.<\/strong><\/p>\n

DSNY completed installation of the final on-street containers, known as Empire Bins, and today marked the first day of full service for over 29,000 households in West Harlem, becoming the first neighborhood in North America to have 100 percent of trash fully containerized.<\/p>\n

Early data shows containerization is working: Since residential container requirements first went into effect six months ago, the number of rat sightings reported to 311 \u2014 when compared to the same month 12 months prior \u2014 has dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we said four years ago that we were going to have cleaner streets and fewer vermin, the cynics rolled their eyes and said, \u2018New York City is too big, government moves too slow, and no one will ever beat the rats.\u2019 But we refused to take no for an answer, and our Empire Bins are striking back at rats and garbage in West Harlem,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of our efforts, we now have a fully containerized neighborhood in Harlem \u2014 the first in North America \u2014 and have seen six straight months of fewer rat sightings with cleaner sidewalks and clearer corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started as a sanitation\u00a0worker in 1999, the idea that we could get where we are today seemed impossible,\u201d said\u00a0DSNY Acting Commissioner Lojan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the 26 years since then, I\u2019ve seen too many good people get hurt from throwing bags or sick with leptospirosis, and I\u2019ve seen too many neighborhoods asked to live with garbage juice and rats all over their sidewalks. It doesn\u2019t have to be that way and today marks a giant leap forward for our city\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the completion of a signature Adams administration initiative, a revolution in how we handle our trash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to turn the tide on generations of trash on the curbs, foul odor, oozing liquids, and legions of rats, the Adams administration studied the best ways to containerize trash; something that past city leaders dismissed as impossible.<\/p>\n

After months of volumetric analysis, community engagement, and planning, New York City began working to containerize 100 percent of trash. All New York City businesses have already been required to put their trash in bins since March 2024, and, since November 2024, all buildings with one to nine residential units are required to use bins; these rules have containerized 70 percent of all New York City trash.<\/p>\n

The West Harlem pilot announced today covers higher-density buildings in the neighborhood, assigning Empire Bins to all West Harlem buildings with more than 30 units.<\/p>\n

Buildings with 10 to 30 units have been given an option to either have an Empire Bin assigned to them or use smaller \u201cwheelie bins\u201d for their trash. After an extensive outreach period that included knocking on the doors of every affected building to speak to residents, owners, and building superintendents, roughly half of buildings with 10 to 30 units opted for an Empire Bin.<\/p>\n

Over the last five weeks, DSNY has installed roughly 1,100 Empire Bins. Unlike in other parts of the world, the bins are not shared by the entire block. Bins are assigned to individual buildings, and property owners have been given key cards to access the bins.<\/p>\n

Industry experts estimated in 2023 that the automated side-loading trucks needed to service these Empire Bins would take more than five years to develop. Working with developers in Torino, Italy, as well in Hicksville and Brooklyn, New York, the Adams administration worked to solve this problem sooner,\u00a0unveiling a prototype truck\u00a0in February 2024.<\/p>\n

These trucks, which take two Sanitation Workers to operate, are now already operating on the streets of West Harlem.<\/p>\n

DSNY staff will begin analyzing results and outcomes of this pilot program in the coming weeks and months. A timeline and process for expansion beyond Manhattan Community Board 9 will be determined based upon learnings from the pilot district.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: \u00a0New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Acting Commissioner Javier Lojan today announced that \u2014 following the installation of approximately 1,100 on-street containers for residential trash from the largest buildings \u2014 100 percent of trash in Manhattan Community Board 9 is now covered by containerization requirements, ushering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37139,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37138\/revisions\/37139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}