"Special-use buildings" and buildings with one to nine residential units will be required to use the bins starting June 1, 2026. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
Mayor Adams unveils city's first official trash bins
BY PATRICK ADCROFT MANHATTANPUBLISHED 1:40 PM ET JUL. 08, 2024
With Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch by his side, Mayor Eric Adams on Monday unveiled the city’s first official trash bin, wheeling it down Gracie Mansion’s driveway and tossing a black bag into the container.
Designed for “low-density” residential buildings, the “NYC Bins” come in two sizes — 35 gallons and 45 gallons — and cost $45.88 and $53.01, respectively. The bins went on sale Monday.
What You Need To Know
- Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled the city’s first official trash bin, dubbed the "NYC Bin"
- "Special-use buildings" and buildings with one to nine residential units will be required to use secure bins of 55 gallons or less for trash set-out starting Nov. 12 of this year
- All of those buildings will be required to use official “NYC Bins” starting June 1, 2026
The new bins were unveiled months ahead of Nov. 12, when buildings with one to nine residential units will be required to use secure containers of 55 gallons or less for trash set-out.
The rule will also apply to “special-use buildings,” including city agency buildings, houses of worship and professional offices housed in residential buildings, Tisch said at a news briefing.
All of those buildings will be required to use official “NYC Bins” starting June 1, 2026 as part of an effort to move toward “safer, faster and cleaner collection,” Tisch said.
“The new official ‘NYC Bin’ that we are unveiling today, and that is on sale now, durable, equipped with wheels and a secure rodent-resistant latching lid, is the cheapest bin of its quality available, with prices below $50 for the most common size,” she said. “Bins like this often sell for two to three times the price at retail stores.”
Matching green and blue “NYC Bins” for recycling are also available for purchase, though they won’t be required, she added.
Once the new rule takes effect on Nov. 12, the city will be containerizing approximately 70% of its 14 billion annual pounds of trash, Adams said at the briefing.
The city will start issuing fines for violations of the rule on Jan. 2, 2025, City Hall said in a news release.
Adams said that while New York has been playing catch-up to other cities when it comes to trash containerization, the new rule will pay dividends in beating back the city’s rodent problem and reclaiming public space.
“It has been for too long the public space has been hijacked. We all see it: mounds and mounds and mounds of plastic bags,” Adams said. “When I go abroad and when I visit other countries, they are blown away that we still use plastic bags. We are leaders. We lead from the front, and we’re going to catch up with everyone else and make sure we get these plastic bags off our streets.”
