NYC mandates trash bins for most homes to keep rats, garbage piles off sidewalks

The vast majority of New York City’s residential landlords will be banned from piling up trash in front of their buildings come November — and will face fines if they don’t put out their garbage in bins with secure lids.

 

Mayor Eric Adams announced the incoming rule on Monday, marking his administration’s latest step to fight the city’s rat population by containerizing the mountains of bags that both clog up the city’s sidewalks and serve as rodent restaurants. The mayor acknowledged the concept of putting garbage in bins isn’t new — but that it’s a big change for New Yorkers, who have for decades been allowed to pile their trash curbside.

Owners of buildings with fewer than 10 units have until Nov. 12 to begin putting their trash out in bins. For now, they can use any container they please, so long as it doesn’t exceed 55 gallons in size and has a lid that’s “tight-fitting.” But come June 2026, those property owners will need to buy a standardized bin from the city for their building’s refuse.

As of Monday, landlords can pre-order one of the official “NYC Bins,” which cost approximately $51 after taxes and fees and will be delivered as soon as Sept. 3.

The mandate for landlords to put trash in containers does not apply to recycling or compost, according to the rules published by the city.

The city also plans to require all large residential buildings to put out their trash in containers, but have not yet set a date for that mandate.

“If you can shut off the food supply for rats, either they won’t reproduce as much or they’ll go find their food somewhere else,” Abreu said. You can read more here.

This “trashy” topic is very exciting to us New Yorkers. We are very excited to get the pile of trash bags off our sidewalks. We applaud this mandate. We will continue to keep you informed of all New York and Real Estate topics.