{"id":200826,"date":"2026-04-17T16:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/200826\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:00:08","slug":"mayor-mamdani-takes-major-step-toward-citywide-trash-containerization-announces-six-new-districts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/200826\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Mamdani Takes Major Step Toward Citywide Trash Containerization, Announces Six New Districts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK \u2013 Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner (DSNY) Gregory Anderson announced today that six new Community Districts across the city will have 100% trash containerization by the end of 2027. This announcement means that eight of the city\u2019s 59 districts will have zero trash bags on the streets next fall, with the administration committing to full citywide trash containerization by end of 2031.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the wealthiest city in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, no New Yorker should have their sidewalks covered in garbage. By finishing the job on containerization, we will ensure New York City\u2019s streets remain the envy of the world,\u201d said Mayor Mamdani. \u201cWe have the plan, we\u2019re investing the money and we\u2019re delivering on the promise of clean, healthy streets for every neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContainerization is a long overdue step in bringing our city\u2019s trash collection into the modern era, putting an end to the piles of garbage that have become far too common across our city,\u201d said Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeighborhood by neighborhood, we are ending the decades-long era of trash bags on the streets of New York City,\u201d said Sanitation Commissioner Anderson. \u201cOthers have talked a lot about containerizing the city\u2019s trash, but we are actually getting it done, delivering cleaner streets and sidewalks, and fewer rats, to every corner of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Businesses and low-density residential buildings, including single-family homes, are already required to put their trash into smaller \u201cwheelie bins.\u201d Today\u2019s 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 are assigned to individual buildings and accessible only to building managers. They will be serviced by North America\u2019s first automated side-loading trucks.<\/p>\n<p>Medium- and high-density residential buildings in the following districts will receive Empire Bins by the end of 2027:<\/p>\n<p>Brooklyn Community District 8\u202f(Prospect Heights, Crown Heights,\u202fWeeksville)Bronx Community District 2\u202f(Hunts Point, Longwood)Bronx Community District 5\u202f(University Heights, Mount Hope, Morris Heights, Fordham Heights)Manhattan Community District 2\u202f(West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Nolita)Queens Community District 2\u202f(Sunnyside, Hunters Point, Woodside)Staten Island Community District 1\u202f(North Shore)<\/p>\n<p>During the course of the next year, 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 \u2014 after extensive one-to-one outreach \u2014 to either have an Empire Bin assigned to them or use smaller \u201cwheelie bins,\u201d as all properties with one to nine units are already required to do citywide. This mirrors the successful operation in the first containerized district, Manhattan Community District 9.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Sanitation is expecting that this expansion will use more than 6,500 Empire Bins for more than 3,500 medium- and high-density buildings.<\/p>\n<p>Trash in Manhattan Community District 9 (West Harlem) has been fully containerized since last June, creating noticeably cleaner streets. Brooklyn Community District 2 (Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Fulton Ferry, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Brooklyn Navy Yard) is scheduled to receive Empire Bins this fall.<\/p>\n<p>While the initial West Harlem pilot has performed well for the last 10 months \u2013 including during a cold, snowy winter \u2014 the previous administration refused to fund or plan for expansion. Today\u2019s commitment lays out a path to full, citywide containerization of trash in just five years.<\/p>\n<p>The initial West Harlem pilot utilized roughly 1,100 Empire Bins to store trash from schools and high- and some mid-density residential buildings. The Empire Bins are serviced by automated side-loading trucks, which DSNY was able to have built years ahead of schedule by developers from Torino, Italy and Hicksville and Brooklyn, New York.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, the City Council passed my bill, the Rat Act (Int. 1123), to expand containerization citywide and finally get those unsightly heaps of trash bags off our sidewalks,\u201d said Council Member Crystal Hudson. \u201cI am thrilled for Mayor Mamdani and DSNY Commissioner Anderson\u2019s announcement today to expand containerization to community board districts in every borough, including Community Board 8 in my district. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great win for Lower Manhattan to be prioritized in the expansion of containerization. Community Board 2 has chronic sanitation issues that clog busy streets and create real quality-of-life problems for residents, workers and visitors,\u201d said Council Member Christopher Marte. \u201cContainerization makes a world of a difference in making sure our sidewalks and streets are designed for people to thrive, not rats. I look forward to working with the Department of Sanitation, CB2, and our neighbors to implement cleaner streets, and further beautify the neighborhoods we love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cResidential containerization is a mandatory citywide initiative, and our office will be working hand in glove with the administration and DSNY to make sure this rollout makes sense for Staten Island and goes as smoothly as possible for our communities,\u201d said Council Member Kamillah Hanks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited to see the expansion of residential containerization in the Bronx. This is a first step in resolving the longstanding issue of rats and illegal dumping in our streets,\u201d said Council Member Oswald Feliz. \u201cOur community deserves cleaner spaces, and I applaud Mayor Mamdani for taking the initiative to continue to improve the quality of life of our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"&#9;text-align: center;&#10;\">###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner (DSNY) Gregory Anderson&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":{"0":"post-200826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-city-news","12":"tag-ny"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200826","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=200826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}