BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) — Residents in Brooklyn Heights are hoping a new trash container program will help reduce the neighborhood’s rat population.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined sanitation workers on Garden Place to install the first of 700 new residential Empire bins planned for Brooklyn, a rollout city officials say is aimed at replacing traditional curbside trash bags.
The mayor said the containers are designed to address problems created by garbage left on sidewalks.
“They will reduce the number of pests by making it more difficult for rats and roaches to find their next meal, they will improve sidewalk access by clearing the way for pedestrians, parents with strollers, and wheelchair users,” Mamdani said.
Residents in the neighborhood said rats have become a persistent problem.
“They have taken over our building,” one resident said.
Another resident added, “We hear them at night, at first I thought it was bird noises, but then there was rats.”
The city plans to replace curbside trash bags with large stationary street containers that building staff can access using key cards or smartphone apps.
The bins are intended for buildings with more than 30 units, while those with 10 to 30 apartments can choose to participate in the program.
According to the mayor, similar bins have been used for more than a year in West Harlem and surrounding neighborhoods, where about 1,100 containers have been installed. Some residents have raised concerns that the containers could reduce available street parking.
The mayor said that concern was looked at.
“Empire bins fully implemented in a community district take up around 4-5% of the space that is traditionally used to store private vehicles,” Mamdani said.
One Brooklyn Heights resident who parks on the street said the benefits of the bins outweigh the drawbacks.
“I’m aware that it’s free real estate that we get to park our cars on and if it frees up sidewalks for pedestrians or people using wheelchairs, I prefer that then me getting more free parking,” the resident said.
Residents and city officials hope the new containers will help keep rats away from trash and improve conditions in the neighborhood.
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