Business and commercial property owners in much of Northeast Queens and southern Brooklyn will have from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28 to select trash and recycling carters from pre-approved lists as Phase 3 of the Department of Sanitation’s Commercial Waste Zone plan expands.
Local Law 199 of 2019 divided the city into 20 commercial waste zones. Each zone has been assigned to approved companies. The stated intent of the law is to reduce the mileage accumulated by private garbage trucks that could criss-cross all over the city, including through multiple boroughs, on a given shift. Backers said it would improve safety and reduce both pollution and wear and tear on city roads.
All new contracts must be dated from the start of January to the end of February.
The DSNY has information on the overall CWZ program at tinyurl.com/3zny6rar.
Information specific to the Northeastern Queens rollout, including a map, neighborhoods and the approved carters, can be found at tinyurl.com/3kkd2c3p.
Business advocates reached by the Chronicle said the city and the approved carters have been conducting outreach as the new year approaches. The DSNY, for example, sent sanitation worker Joseph Ottomanelli to give a brief address and take some questions at the Nov. 3 meeting of Community Board 11.
Noah Sheroff, executive director of the Bayside Village Business Improvement District, told the Chronicle in a recent interview that things have been going smoothly so far.
“I’ve communicated with the businesses in the district on several occasions,” Sheroff said. “Sanitation, the DSNY, has been a pleasure to work with. I think, depending on the companies, opinions vary from different businesses on how they are performing, but that comes as no surprise.”
Given various business and economic conditions, he hopes everything plays out well.
“I’ve seen several of the carting companies out there in the prior months getting the word out, as we have,” he said. “My only hope is that it will be a seamless transition and it is not burdensome for businesses that already have high costs. I think, unfortunately, that many businesses are just breaking even. That is one of my concerns.”
DianSong Yu, executive director of the Downtown Flushing Transit Hub Business Improvement District, also hopes the new arrangement will result in little disruption.
“So far, I think we’re OK. I don’t see much change,” Yu said. “They have been working on this for a while. As of now I have not heard any complaints.”
The neighborhoods in Phase 3 include Auburndale, Bay Terrace, Bayside, Beechhurst, Briarwood, College Point, Douglaston, Downtown Flushing, Hillcrest, Hollis Hills, Jamaica Estates, Kew Gardens Hills, Little Neck, Malba, Murray Hill, Oakland Gardens, Pomonok, Queensboro Hill, Utopia and Whitestone.
The general collection carters for Northeast Queens include Boro-Wide, Crown Waste Corp. and Royal Waste Services Inc.
Companies for dumpsters and compactors of 10 cubic yards or more are Action Carting Environmental Services, Filco Carting Company Recycle Track Systems NYC, LLC, and Waste Connections of New York, Inc.