New York’s containerized trash program will expand to six more city districts by the end of 2027, Mayor Mamdani is set to announce Friday.
“In the wealthiest city in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, no New Yorker should have their sidewalks covered in garbage,” the mayor said in a statement. “By finishing the job on containerization, we will ensure New York City’s streets remain the envy of the world.”
“We have the plan, we’re investing the money and we’re delivering on the promise of clean, healthy streets for every neighborhood,” he added.
Containerized trash will be rolled out over the next year and a half to Brooklyn’s Sanitation District 8, which includes Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Weeksville; Manhattan’s Sanitation District 2, covering the West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Greenwich Village and Nolita; Queens District 2, including Sunnyside, Hunters Point and Woodside; Bronx Districts 2 and 5, taking in Hunts Point, Longwood, University Heights, Mount Hope, Morris Heights and Fordham Heights; and Staten Island’s North Shore.
“Neighborhood by neighborhood, we are ending the decades-long era of trash bags on the streets of New York City,” Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson said in a statement. “Others have talked a lot about containerizing the city’s trash, but we are actually getting it done, delivering cleaner streets and sidewalks, and fewer rats, to every corner of the city.”
Businesses and low-density residential buildings are already required to put their trash bags in containers for pickup.
Friday’s expected announcement builds on a trash-containerization program begun by former Mayor Eric Adams, which saw more than 1,000 European-style “Empire Bins” rolled out to schools and high-density residential buildings in West Harlem.
In addition, Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Fulton Ferry, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and the Brooklyn Navy Yard are all slated to get containerized trash service in the fall.
Over the next year, officials say, the Department of Sanitation will distribute the large Empire Bins to all residential buildings with 30 units or more in the six districts. Smaller buildings with 10 to 30 units will have the option of using the larger bins or using wheeled trash cans, like low-density buildings.
The announcement comes just days after Mamdani announced the Sanitation Department will containerize all residential trash across the five boroughs by the end of 2031.