New York City’s impending trash revolution is hitting bumps in the road as some property and business owners say thieves are stealing their trash bins right off the sidewalks.
By November, any residential building with nine or fewer units will be required to curb its trash in containers with secure lids. The same mandate has been in place for city businesses since March.
In two years, the city will require those bins to be replaced by the official NYC Bin. It’s part of Mayor Eric Adams’ effort to containerize waste across the city with the goal of eliminating the piles of trash bags from sidewalks, which would in turn reduce a key food source for rats.
But the change has already frustrated Rockaway resident David Selig, 59, who bought trash bins for a set of Queens rental properties he owns. He began using the bins at his buildings in April, months before he’s required to do so.
His bins soon started disappearing. Within weeks, Selig said he lost six of them to thieves. He noted they cost roughly $100 apiece, and he’s refraining from buying new ones until the sanitation department’s bin requirements take effect in November.
“I believe my experience is a sample of a growing trend,” said Selig “I was finding myself frustrated on a biweekly basis by cans that would be disappearing.”
Selig checked around for cameras that might have caught the bin bandits, but he found no leads.
Selig calls himself an early adopter of trash bins, which are widely used around the world but are new for New York. Before he bought his receptacles, he attended the New York City Trash Academy, where New Yorkers can learn about waste management and sustainability efforts.
Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on the “Brian Lehrer Show” Thursday that the NYC Bins will come equipped with a barcode and tag that will allow sanitation officials to identify their owners. They’ll also have a serial number and a spot where residents can write their addresses. The bins will be available at a discounted rate compared to similar products offered at retail stores, Tisch said.
Sanitation department spokesperson Joshua Goodman said that New Yorkers are allowed to chain their bins when they aren’t set out for collection, but added that the chains must be removed when sanitation workers arrive to collect the waste.
Goodman added that there’s an existing process for New Yorkers when their property is stolen: filing a police report.
That didn’t work so well for Selig. He said he went to his local police precinct after 311 directed him to report the theft to the NYPD, in line with advice from the sanitation department.
“[The officers] basically said, ‘Listen, if you don’t show us a headshot in focus of the person doing it, we can’t pursue this as a crime,’” Selig said. “They didn’t see much of a purpose in investigating. Nor did I, frankly.”
The NYPD did not respond to a request for information on how many reports its received of trash bin thefts.
The problem is not unique to residential buildings like Selig’s.
David Biderman, a trash industry insider who represents some private carting companies, said businesses — particularly restaurants — are also reckoning with bin thieves.
“Several [trash] carters have informed me that containers have been stolen recently from their customers. In one case, the container was stolen in Brooklyn and recovered in Manhattan,” Biderman said.
The cost of losing a trash bin can be higher than the receptacles themselves. The sanitation department can fine businesses $50 or more if they pile trash bags on their curb, even if their bins were stolen. Residential property owners will face similar fines for bucking the bin mandate in November.
A 2015 survey from the city shows bin theft isn’t a new trend. The sanitation department queried 500 participants in a curbside compost collection pilot, and 5% said they weren’t composting because their bins were lost or stolen.