Trash cans are now mandatory in much of New York City

For half a century, New Yorkers have been disposing of their trash by throwing plastic bags filled with smelly trash directly onto the sidewalk. When the bags inevitably leak or burst, they spill waste onto the street and provide a smorgasbord for rats. In the winter, piles of trash are buried in snow and remain frozen in place for days, sometimes weeks, reinforcing the city’s reputation as dirty. Now New Yorkers are slowly getting used to a radically new routine, at least for America’s largest city: They’re throwing their trash into trash cans. With lid. In November, covered containers became mandatory for all residential buildings with fewer than 10 units, the AP reports. This is the majority of residential real estate. All city businesses were required to start using trash cans earlier this year.

“I know this must sound absurd to anyone listening to this who lives in virtually any other city in the world,” said Jessica Tisch, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, who oversaw the new measures before adopting them this week became the city’s police commissioner. “But by New York standards, it’s revolutionary because we’ve been putting all of our trash right on the curb for 50 years.” The trash bin requirement, which went into effect Nov. 12, comes with its own challenges. Among them: Finding a place for large wheeled trash cans in neighborhoods where most buildings don’t have yards, alleys or garages. Landlords and homeowners also have to collect the empty bins in the morning and bring them back from the side of the road – this was not the case with plastic bags.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the city of New York required that trash be disposed of in metal bins. However, in the days before the widespread use of plastic bags, trash was thrown directly into trash cans, leaving them dirty and dirty. Then, in 1968, the city’s sanitation workers went on strike. The trash cans were overflowing for more than a week. Piles of trash piled high on the sidewalks and spilled into the streets like a dystopian nightmare. Plastic bag manufacturers donated thousands of bags to clean up the mess, and New Yorkers never looked back, said Steven Cohen, a Columbia University dean who specializes in public affairs. “It had to do with convenience,” he said. “After the strike, sanitation workers preferred the modern advance of lighter and seemingly cleaner sealed plastic bags.”

But the administration of Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has declared trash bag piles public enemy No. 1 in its well-documented war against the city’s notorious rats, which have little trouble getting into a plastic bag. However, not all residents are convinced. Caitlin Leffel, who lives in Manhattan, said residents in her building had to hire someone to take out the trash cans the night before and put them back in “at surprisingly high cost.” After all, the largest residential buildings – those with more than 31 residential units – will have their own container on the street. New garbage trucks with automated side-loading arms – another innovation already common in many other places – will then dispose of them. Starting January 2, fines will range from $50 to $200. (More stories from New York City.)