(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) New York City Mayor Eric Adams has launched what he calls a “trash revolution” to supposedly tackle the city’s rampant rat problem—by introducing wheeled trash cans for residential homes.
During a Monday press conference, set to the tune of Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind, Adams boasted of city-mandated bins, claiming they will replace black trash bags that have long served as a source of food for rodents and roaches.
“When you look at the billions of pounds of trash we remove off our streets annually, many people thought it was impossible that these babies here, the bins, were going to be part of our trash revolution,” the mayor said.
“Welcome to our trash revolution.” Mayor Adams introduces the new bin that buildings with 1-9 units will be required to use instead of loose bags of garbage pic.twitter.com/nMiAZiXMVz
— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) July 8, 2024
Conceding that trash bins are not a groundbreaking innovation, he added, “We’re only catching up to what other municipalities across the globe, what they are currently doing.”
Under the new mandate, residences with fewer than 10 units must purchase these bins by Nov. 12. By June 2026, all property owners will be required to fork over cash for government-approved bins, according to Gothamist.
The city awarded a lucrative contract to Otto Environmental Systems to design these bins, raising questions about political favors.
“The city needs to give sanitation overtime that they deserve, if youre not going to hire more sanitation workers to keep our city clean,” Curtis Sliwa, a former Republican candidate for mayor, wrote on Twitter, “But Adams, his solution is making you pay for his can design. Just another contract with kickbacks for his cronies and another expense for taxpayers.”
Eric Adams is always worried about what other cities think of #NYC, but during his years as Mayor, he still cant fix the garbage issue across the boroughs. Now of course, he has a new garbage can for $50, required now for properties with 1-9 residential units. The city needs to… pic.twitter.com/Nk3KQd2TrP
— Curtis Sliwa (@CurtisSliwa) July 9, 2024
To ensure compliance, Adams has threatened fines starting at $50 for those daring to resist his decree, with penalties escalating to $200 for repeated offenses, Gothamist reported.
Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch promised that by spring 2025, larger buildings will boast on-street containers for trash.
