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Yahoo
14 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
War on rats gets ugly as hundreds of ‘eyesore' Empire Bins gobble up parking spaces in Harlem
These drivers are in for rat-ical change. West Harlem has become the first neighborhood in the United States to have all of its trash containerized in order to squash uptown rats' curbside trash feasts, City Hall officials said Monday – but the hundreds of UFO-like 'Empire Bins' are now permanently taking some coveted parking spots, The Post has learned. The latest cohort of European-style bins, which are mandatory for all residential properties with more than 30 units, were installed over the weekend — and have gobbled up about 4% of parking spaces in the neighborhood overnight, a city sanitation department rep told The Post. 'It takes up parking spots that were already hard to find,' said Harlem resident Erica Lamont, who claims she circled the blocks of Broadway and West 149th Street for a half-hour on Tuesday morning. 'The bins are the size of small cars and when you put two and three on a residential street, you are ultimately forcing people to force blocks away,' Lamont, 46, said. 'It's not placed in no standing or truck loading zones – they are placed in the few actual parking spots that residents could get,' said Michelle R., a 40-year-old dog sitter in the neighborhood. 'I like the garbage cans, but I feel bad for the people that normally park their cars there.' Other locals, like Harlem resident David Jones, simply blasted the bizarre look of the gargantuan containers. 'It's an eyesore,' said Jones, 40. 'It's right there in front of your face. I'm neutral. If it does the job then let's applaud it — If it doesn't, then let's get rid of them and come up with something else.' Some locals previously told The Post the massive receptacles clash with the neighborhood's aesthetic, even though they may be needed to scare away rats. The pilot program, which spans Manhattan's Community Board 9, includes 1,100 on-street containers for about 29,000 residents living in properties with over 30 units, as well as about half of properties with 10 to 30 units that opted to use the bins. The locked bins are accessible to building staff and waste managers via 'access cards,' and have been serviced by automated side-loading trucks since Monday. 'Rat sightings in NYC are down six months in a row,' a DSNY rep told The Post. 'This is the exact same period that residential bin requirements have been in effect. Containerization WORKS, and there is no reason that other cities can have it and New York can't.' But while citywide rat sightings are down, Manhattan's Community Board 9 has seen a 7.8% jump in rat sightings compared to this time last year, according to a Post analysis of 311 data. Still, City Hall hopes the new bins will end the curbside rat buffet fueled by garbage bags lingering on residential streets — which uptown residents say have made it nearly impossible to walk on some streets at night. 'When there's trash on the sidewalk, there's rats—plain and simple. And yet for years, City Hall acted like trash cans were some sort of sci-fi/fantasy invention,' said Council Member Shaun Abreu, Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management. 'Now with full containerization in West Harlem and Morningside Heights, we've got clean bins, no more sidewalk piles, and fewer rats. We fought like hell to make this happen, and now we're proving it works.' Harlem resident Rick M. said he hopes the new containers are effective as residents have historically had to move quickly past piles of street side trash 'because you don't know what may run out. 'I've seen rats run from one big pile to another so it's nice to not have to walk by piles of trash,' the 30-year-old said. 'The rat problem was so bad here that humans couldn't be living here — they'd be attacking you right here,' lifelong Harlem resident Shanice Day told The Post at Morningside Avenue and 124th Street. Day, 39, recalls rats as big as cats 'like Master Splinter rats from Ninja Turtles' that would chew wires off people's cars — and attributes the Empire Bins to a rapid decrease in rodent sightings. 'What I can honestly say is we are almost rat free,' she added. 'If people are upset about the bins they're crazy, because they are a big help.' But Harlem resident Wise Grant, 64, warns the containers are only as effective as those who use them. 'It slows them down but it's not a way to get rid of them,' the retired voting machine technician said. 'It's up to the individual people. People throw food on the floor and it feeds them.' 'That's what people do on the streets. They don't care … They have to care about where they live.'
New York Post
6 days ago
- General
- New York Post
War on rats gets ugly as hundreds of ‘eyesore' Empire Bins gobble up parking spaces in Harlem
These drivers are in for rat-ical change. West Harlem has become the first neighborhood in the United States to have all of its trash containerized in order to squash uptown rats' curbside trash feasts, City Hall officials said Monday – but the hundreds of UFO-like 'Empire Bins' are now permanently taking some coveted parking spots, The Post has learned. Advertisement 4 West Harlem has become the first neighborhood in the United States to have all of its trash containerized in an attempt to squash uptown rats' curbside trash feasts. Gregory P. Mango The latest cohort of European-style bins, which are mandatory for all residential properties with more than 30 units, were installed over the weekend — and have gobbled up about 4% of parking spaces in the neighborhood overnight, a city sanitation department rep told The Post. 'It takes up parking spots that were already hard to find,' said Harlem resident Erica Lamont, who claims she circled the blocks of Broadway and West 149th Street for a half-hour on Tuesday morning. Advertisement 'The bins are the size of small cars and when you put two and three on a residential street, you are ultimately forcing people to force blocks away,' Lamont, 46, said. 'It's not placed in no standing or truck loading zones – they are placed in the few actual parking spots that residents could get,' said Michelle R., a 40-year-old dog sitter in the neighborhood. 'I like the garbage cans, but I feel bad for the people that normally park their cars there.' Other locals, like Harlem resident David Jones, simply blasted the bizarre look of the gargantuan containers. 'It's an eyesore,' said Jones, 40. 'It's right there in front of your face. I'm neutral. If it does the job then let's applaud it — If it doesn't, then let's get rid of them and come up with something else.' Advertisement 4 The latest cohort of European-style bins, which are mandatory for all residential properties with more than 30 units, were installed over the weekend, the city said. Gregory P. Mango Some locals previously told The Post the massive receptacles clash with the neighborhood's aesthetic, even though they may be needed to scare away rats. The pilot program, which spans Manhattan's Community Board 9, includes 1,100 on-street containers for about 29,000 residents living in properties with over 30 units, as well as about half of properties with 10 to 30 units that opted to use the bins. The locked bins are accessible to building staff and waste managers via 'access cards,' and have been serviced by automated side-loading trucks since Monday. Advertisement 'Rat sightings in NYC are down six months in a row,' a DSNY rep told The Post. 'This is the exact same period that residential bin requirements have been in effect. Containerization WORKS, and there is no reason that other cities can have it and New York can't.' 4 The pilot program, which spans Manhattan's Community Board 9, includes 1,100 on-street containers for about 29,000 residents. Gregory P. Mango But while citywide rat sightings are down, Manhattan's Community Board 9 has seen a 7.8% jump in rat sightings compared to this time last year, according to a Post analysis of 311 data. Still, City Hall hopes the new bins will end the curbside rat buffet fueled by garbage bags lingering on residential streets — which uptown residents say have made it nearly impossible to walk on some streets at night. 'When there's trash on the sidewalk, there's rats—plain and simple. And yet for years, City Hall acted like trash cans were some sort of sci-fi/fantasy invention,' said Council Member Shaun Abreu, Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management. 'Now with full containerization in West Harlem and Morningside Heights, we've got clean bins, no more sidewalk piles, and fewer rats. We fought like hell to make this happen, and now we're proving it works.' Harlem resident Rick M. said he hopes the new containers are effective as residents have historically had to move quickly past piles of street side trash 'because you don't know what may run out. 'I've seen rats run from one big pile to another so it's nice to not have to walk by piles of trash,' the 30-year-old said. Advertisement 4 Harlem resident Wise Grant, 64, warns the containers are only as effective as those who use them. Steven Vago/NY Post 'The rat problem was so bad here that humans couldn't be living here — they'd be attacking you right here,' lifelong Harlem resident Shanice Day told The Post at Morningside Avenue and 124th Street. Day, 39, recalls rats as big as cats 'like Master Splinter rats from Ninja Turtles' that would chew wires off people's cars — and attributes the Empire Bins to a rapid decrease in rodent sightings. 'What I can honestly say is we are almost rat free,' she added. 'If people are upset about the bins they're crazy, because they are a big help.' Advertisement But Harlem resident Wise Grant, 64, warns the containers are only as effective as those who use them. 'It slows them down but it's not a way to get rid of them,' the retired voting machine technician said. 'It's up to the individual people. People throw food on the floor and it feeds them.' 'That's what people do on the streets. They don't care … They have to care about where they live.'
Time Out
12-05-2025
- General
- Time Out
Here's where NYC's worst litterers live, per a new sanitation survey
Turns out New York's most notorious litterbugs aren't tourists or Wall Street bros—it's Gen Z guys from the Bronx and Queens. A new survey from the Sanitation Foundation, the nonprofit partner of DSNY, has identified the city's 'chronic litterers.' As reported by the New York Post, the culprits are overwhelmingly men aged 18 to 34 who admit they're skipping the trashcan far too often. The excuse? No bins nearby, or they were 'in a hurry'—classic. Despite owning up to their messy habits, many of these same respondents still claim to take pride in being New Yorkers and look down on others who litter, calling them 'lazy' or 'disrespectful.' The irony is not lost on us. Overall, 83-percent of city residents say they're proud to live in NYC, and 8 in 10 agree litter is a major issue. Yet per the survey, 38-percent confessed that they don't always throw away their garbage properly, and only 29-percent said they've never littered. (We see you, humblebraggers.) The dirtiest borough by complaint volume? Brooklyn, with more than 30,000 311 complaints filed since January 2024. Queens clocked in second with nearly 21,000, then Manhattan (17,000), the Bronx (13,200), and Staten Island bringing up the rear with a relatively tidy 6,700. Women over 45 were the least likely to admit to littering. Meanwhile, older New Yorkers were more likely to say they feel responsible for keeping the city clean and more likely to actually pick up trash. One man, 32-year-old Carlos Amaya of Astoria, said he's leaving Queens altogether for a quieter life in Long Island. 'There's trash everywhere—everywhere!' he told the Post, citing Corona as the borough's messiest zone. In response, the city is beefing up its sanitation efforts, with a $32 million funding boost and a new 'Don't Do NYC Dirty' campaign that urges New York residents to put their trash where it belongs. Because if you love New York City, maybe don't trash it! Would more bins help? Absolutely, especially in the outer boroughs, where locals say it's slim pickings between corners. Until then, maybe just hang onto that coffee cup a few more blocks.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Smaller NYC trash bins available online from DSNY
Editor's Note: The above story originally aired on Nov. 12, 2024 NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — In response to demand, the New York City Department of Sanitation has released smaller trash bins for sale on its official website. The new 25-gallon bins sell for $43.88 and can hold up to two 13-gallon garbage bags. The smaller bins abide by NYC trash rules that went into effect in November, which mandated all residents to put trash in containers with lids for pick-up. More Local News 'We are proud to be able to offer City residents with even more choices in finding the right waste bin to meet their individual or building's needs,' said Javier Lojan, Acting Sanitation Commissioner. DSNY originally released 35-gallon and 45-gallon official bins to help New Yorkers abide by the new trash rules. The new 25-gallon size comes in response to requests from residents and elected officials. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State The smaller bins are expected to be a better fit for some smaller trash bin enclosures and easier to maneuver for residents in smaller households, officials from the department said. According to the DSNY more than 750,000 official trash bins have been ordered to date through the department's website. Properties with one to nine residential units must put out their trash for collection using garbage bins with secure lids that are up to 55-gallons in size. Any residents found in violation could face fines ranging from $50 – $200. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Futuristic' UFO-like trash bins invade NYC neighborhood, abduct parking spaces and get low marks from locals: ‘Hideous'
These space invaders are trash. The city has installed a bunch of anti-rat trash bins outside upper Manhattan schools – but locals say the spaceship-shaped monstrosities aren't exactly out of this world. 'They look out-of-place here,' said Marcus Delgado, 52, of the city Department of Sanitation, 'Empire Bins' gobbling up parking spots along Amsterdam Avenue near 152nd Street. 'They look futuristic, you know, the shape of them,' he added. 'It looks like a robot sitting there with two arms sticking out.' The mini-tank-sized receptacles are part of a 1,000-strong fleet coming to the area this summer – but paralegal Denise Anna said they didn't fit with the neighborhood's aesthetic even though they may be needed to scare away rodents. 'They are hideous,' Anna, 33, said. A Hamilton Heights resident who identified herself only as Lisa said it 'takes away from the Harlem Renaissance.' 'Putting these things here that are not vibing with the neighborhood – It's not the right fit,' she said. The 'European-style' gray bins will be used this spring in a pilot program within Harlem's Community District 9 – which includes the Morningside Heights, Manhattanville and Sugar Hill. They'll be rolled out at residential properties with 31 or more units and about half of area buildings with as little as 10 units, according to a sanitation department rep. Starting on June 1, 2025, all residential buildings in the area will be required to use the bins. The locked bins will be accessible to building staff and waste managers via 'access cards' and will be serviced by new side-loading trucks. 'This is a vast improvement, both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of scalability,' DSNY rep Vincent Gragnani told The Post, adding that the containerization program is vital to decreasing the number of rats in the area. 'The previous pilot [from 2023], while imperfect, showed fantastic results, with rat sightings reported to 311 down a staggering 60% in the pilot zone,' Gragnani said. The new figures from DSNY come after a Post analysis of 311 rat sighting data found that Community Board 9 as a whole saw an increase in rat sightings, up 8.66% between 2023 and 2024. The rat sighting reports are still up across the district in 2025, up 11% from 112 rat sighting reports this time last year. West Harlem resident Anna Galka said 'we will have to get used to these.' 'It doesn't blend in with the architecture of this place, but if this is the best they can do to solve the rat problem, then we will see,' Galka said. 'I want to see these where the rich people live – on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side,' Galka added. 'Let's see how the rich people like these ugly things in their neighborhood.' DSNY said community board feedback on a previous pilot program was 'overwhelmingly positive.' Patricia Urena, 72, said: 'They look good. There is nothing wrong with the way they look – and they are getting rid of the big rats.' Urena also pointed to the parking spaces the bins now occupy as 'a problem' for the area's drivers — but emphasized the pros outweigh the cons. 'What's important is that the place is clean and we are getting rid of the rats,' she said. 'They are a big concern in this community.'
