{"id":199830,"date":"2026-04-16T20:33:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/199830\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T20:33:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:33:23","slug":"are-the-citys-new-trash-cans-breaking-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/199830\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the City\u2019s New Trash Cans Breaking Already?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Christopher Bonanos, Courtesy of the owner\n <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been about two and a half years since the Department of Sanitation\u2019s new litter basket began to arrive on New York street corners. The Better Bin, as it\u2019s called, now constitutes roughly a quarter of the curbside population. As we noted at the time<\/a>, it has some clear advantages over its wire-mesh predecessor. Instead of hefting a heavy steel basket, Sanitation workers flip back half of the upper steel collar and pull out a lightweight plastic liner. Unlike the mesh bin, which sometimes ended up rolling around the street or repurposed to reserve a parking place, the whole thing is built on a concrete base that stays put. The split top deters people from dropping in a full bag of household garbage. It\u2019s more ratproof than the mesh one; the plastic liner is easy to swap when it needs replacement; it contains liquids as its predecessor did not. It\u2019s a better design by most measures.<\/p>\n

Except one: All those parts means there is more to break. And more than a few Better Bins are, indeed, broken.<\/p>\n

Not every one, of course. But an informal survey around the city reveals Better Bins with their tops either missing or split at the hinge. Here\u2019s one on the Bowery at East 3rd Street. The flip lid is entirely gone.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Christopher Bonanos\n <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another, similarly beheaded, on Seventh Avenue near 30th Street. It was installed before September 2024, so it\u2019s about two years old.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Christopher Bonanos\n <\/p>\n

This one, on Avenue C, has kept half its lid, but the flip-up section is gone.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Christopher Bonanos\n <\/p>\n

On this can, also on the Bowery, the top is complete but the hinge is beginning to lose its grip and is pretty evidently about to let go.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Christopher Bonanos\n <\/p>\n

A colleague of mine in Jackson Heights spotted four broken Better Bins between his apartment and the subway, all in the space of six blocks on 37th Avenue.<\/p>\n

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\n Photo: Courtesy the owner.\n <\/p>\n

\n Photo: Courtesy the owner.\n <\/p>\n

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\n Photo: Courtesy the owner.\n <\/p>\n

\n Photo: Courtesy the owner.\n <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another headless one on Avenue B.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: Christopher Bonanos\n <\/p>\n

Is this problem inherent to the design? Any object with moving parts has a failure point that a stoutly welded unibody does not. Until a mesh bin rusts out, there isn\u2019t much that can happen to it, apart from some denting.<\/p>\n

Joshua Goodman, the Department of Sanitation\u2019s representative, is adamant that this is a legitimate tradeoff. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the point of the modular design,\u201d he said. \u201cParts can be replaced instead of the whole thing.\u201d Repairs take place, he says, after damage is reported either by the collection crews who empty them daily or the public via 311. His principal argument is that the features of the new bins far outweigh any increase in fragility. \u201cRemember, the old bins leak trash juice all over the street, and that isn\u2019t \u2018broken,\u2019 that\u2019s how they\u2019re designed!\u201d And, he added, \u201cIs it doing a better job of keeping the trash out of sight, out of nose, in addition to making them easier for sanitation workers to service? You have to think: What do you want? Does a Porsche break more than a go-kart?\u201d The Porsche is an apt comparison: The Better Bin, made by Roy Metal Products up in Ontario, cost (as of 2023) about $1,000, whereas the wire bin is made by Corcraft, a company that uses convict labor upstate, and retailed (also as of 2023<\/a>) for $175.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

\n A better Better Bin: This (on Sixth Avenue in midtown) is how they\u2019re supposed to look.
\n Photo: Christopher Bonanos\n <\/p>\n

That said, Goodman did add that the issue is known and has at least partly been addressed. Avenue B, where I saw at least one broken top, \u201creceived original prototype Better Bins. Since those baskets were placed, we upgraded the design and durability of the Better Bin several times.\u201d The plastic brackets and rubber bumpers around the top section have been upgraded, he explained, and there are more bolts holding it together. \u201cWe have seen great success with the baskets that have all the modifications and do plan to phase out the \u2018first gen\u2019 baskets. We are constantly monitoring the field to replace the older models after they break.\u201d He added that repairs sometimes take a little longer lately than they had because the parts come in from Canada, and you know what that means<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s a tariff issue.\u201d So, yes, you can partially blame Donald Trump for this one as well.<\/p>\n

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Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Christopher Bonanos, Courtesy of the owner It\u2019s been about two and a half years since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[79388,5463,8991,79390,79389,9,24,63,134,136,135,4304,22743,30442],"class_list":{"0":"post-199830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-better-bin","9":"tag-cityscape","10":"tag-department-of-sanitation","11":"tag-hot-garbage","12":"tag-litter-baskets","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-staten-island","17":"tag-staten-island-headlines","18":"tag-staten-island-news","19":"tag-trash","20":"tag-trash-bins","21":"tag-trash-cans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}