Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson announced earlier today that six new community districts, including Queens Community District 2, will have 100% of its trash containerized by the end of 2027. 

According to a news release from City Hall, eight of the city’s 59 districts will have zero trash bags on the streets next fall, and the administration is committing to full citywide trash containerization by the end of 2031. 

“In the wealthiest city in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, no New Yorker should have their sidewalks covered in garbage,” Mamdani said. “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.” 

The news release noted that businesses and low-density residential buildings, including single-family homes, are already required to put their trash into smaller “wheelie bins.” 

However, today’s announcement covers trash from higher-density residential buildings, whose building managers will put their trash into stationary on-street containers known as Empire Bins.

These Empire Bins will be assigned to individual buildings, the news release said, and accessible only to building managers. 

They will be serviced by North America’s first automated side-loading trucks.

“Neighborhood by neighborhood, we are ending the decades-long era of trash bags on the streets of New York City,” Anderson added. “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.”

Medium- and high-density residential buildings in the following districts will receive Empire Bins by the end of 2027: 

Queens Community District 2 (Sunnyside, Hunters Point, Woodside) 
Brooklyn Community District 8 (Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Weeksville) 
Bronx Community District 2 (Hunts Point, Longwood) 
Bronx Community District 5 (University Heights, Mount Hope, Morris Heights, Fordham Heights) 
Manhattan Community District 2 (West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Nolita) 
Staten Island Community District 1 (North Shore) 

Over the course of the next year, the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will assign Empire Bins to all buildings in these districts with more than 30 units. 

Buildings with 10 to 30 units will be given an option — which the news release said would be after extensive one-to-one outreach — to either have an Empire Bin assigned to them or use smaller “wheelie bins” as all properties with one to nine units are already required to do citywide. 

While the exact number of Empire Bins used will depend upon how many medium-density buildings choose to use Empire Bins vs wheelie bins, the DSNY is expecting that this expansion will use more than 6,500 Empire Bins for more than 3,500 medium- and high-density buildings. 

“Containerization is a long overdue step in bringing our city’s trash collection into the modern era, putting an end to the piles of garbage that have become far too common across our city,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson. “We will be hard at work rolling out this program throughout the five boroughs, keeping our public realm clean, safe and enjoyable for all New Yorkers.”

Empire Bins that will be introduced to Queens and the rest of NYC by 2031. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Council Member Crystal Hudson, who represents District 35 in Brooklyn, has been championing legislation similar to the trash containerization program announced today. 

She introduced the Rat Act (Int. 1123) in 2024, which was passed by City Council last year, to expand containerization citywide and help get “unsightly” heaps of trash bags off the sidewalk.

“I am thrilled for Mayor Mamdani and DSNY Commissioner Anderson’s announcement today to expand containerization to community board districts in every borough, including Community Board 8 in my district,” Hudson said. “It is encouraging to see this work begin to scale across the city. Containerization is a critical tool in addressing our rat crisis and improving street cleanliness. I look forward to continuing to work with the mayor and commissioner to build on this momentum and ensure this effort is fully realized citywide in the coming years.”

Mamdani’s trash containerization plan, the news release said, mirrors the successful operation in the first containerized district, Manhattan Community District 9.

Trash in the district, which includes West Harlem, has been fully containerized since last June, utilizing roughly 1,100 Empire Bins to store trash from schools and some mid- and high-density residential buildings.

The Empire Bins are serviced by automated side-loading trucks, which the news release noted the DSNY built years ahead of schedule by developers from Italy, Hicksville and Brooklyn.

The news release said the program has resulted in noticeably cleaner streets. 

While the initial West Harlem pilot has performed well for the last 10 months, the news release continued — including during this year’s cold, snowy winter — the Eric Adams Administration only intended it to be a pilot program expanding to just one additional district. 

The news release noted that no funding, plans or timeline were put in place to extend the service across the city. 

However, today’s commitment lays out a path to full citywide containerization of trash in just five years.