Stricter trash pickup times lead to surge in NYC tickets, 28,000 over 4 months

Published Jul 30, 2023

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A recent ticketing blitz by the sanitation department is taking aim at New Yorkers who put their garbage out too early.

In the past four months, the department issued more than 28,337 tickets across the five boroughs to people and businesses who don’t heed the new trash bag setout times of 8 p.m., according to city data.

That’s more than $1.4 million in potential fines from the summonses, though sanitation department spokesperson Joshua Goodman noted that people who successfully appeal the tickets won’t have to pay the $50 fine.

The uptick in summonses comes as the city in April changed the time to put out curbside trash bags from 4 p.m. to four hours later in an effort to reduce the time mountains of bags languish on sidewalks, where they feed rats and other vermin.

“Regarding the number of summonses, we don’t enforce for enforcement’s sake. We enforce so that people will comply with the new rules, which are making the city noticeably cleaner,” said sanitation department spokesperson Vincent Gragnani.

In comparison, during the same time period last year the city issued 12,592 similar trash violations — less than half of the amount given out during the current campaign.

Enforcement focused on the city’s highest-density areas, with Manhattan’s East Village, the Lower East Side and Chinatown receiving the most tickets, according to sanitation department data. There was also robust ticketing in the Upper West and East Sides, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and Harlem, as well as Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick in Brooklyn.

There was large increase in the number of summonses issued in every borough this year.

Brooklynites received the most tickets in the enforcement blitz, with 7,613 summons issued in the borough from April 1 to July 11. Manhattan was close behind with 7,510 summonses issued during that time period, while the Bronx had 6,148, Queens had 5,826 and Staten Island had 1,240.

The new policy allows residents who have trash cans with secured lids to put bins at the curb as early as 6 p.m. on collection days. And owners of businesses that close before 8 p.m. can put garbage cans with lids on sidewalks up to an hour before closing time.

One property management executive complained that the sanitation department was constantly fining his company's buildings instead of helping them reduce their litter.

“Their job is to give a ticket, their job is not to keep it clean,” said Pinny Gestetner of BSM Facility Solutions in Brooklyn. “It’s not about dirty or not.”

Gestetner estimated that 30% of the 700 residential buildings his company maintains have been ticketed for improper trash setout timing.

On top of the setout time change and moving more trash pickup to the overnight hours, the sanitation department has more reforms on the horizon, with a new rule that all food-related businesses must use lidded garbage bins starting on Aug. 1.

Gragnani said the changes have been effective, citing a reduction in rat-related calls to 311.

“Rat complaints were down 15% in May and down more than 20% in June – more evidence that what we are doing is working,” he said.

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Sophia Chang is a reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering government policy, social structures and other issues that enable and complicate city life. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 347-688-7674.

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