Manhattan Board Community 9 is the first North American neighborhood with fully containerized trash, thanks to the rollout of roughly 1,100 “Empire Bins” for high-density residential buildings last week. Mayor Eric Adams did not waste his opportunity to make a Star Wars pun.
“Our Empire Bins are striking back at rats and garbage in West Harlem,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “When I said four years ago that we were going to have cleaner streets and fewer vermins, the cynics rolled their eyes. They said it was not possible, it was something you have to just accept in New York because of the number of rodents we have in our city. And we said no to that.”
But the Empire Bins remain closer to a prequel. The NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) pilot stretches across the West Harlem neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill where the city assigned a rat mitigation zone. Containerizing garbage keeps the black trash bags — a significant food source for the rodents — off the sidewalks and in sealed, rodent-proof receptacles.
Each Empire Bin comes at the cost of half a car length in curb space. The roughly 1,100 receptacles will service around 29,000 West Harlem households. Buildings boasting more than 30 units are mandated to use an Empire Bin while those with 10 to 30 units can opt-in or alternatively containerize with a smaller “wheelie” bin. Around half of optional buildings opted in, according to the city.
“These bins are sturdy, rodent-resistant, and locked for use only by specific buildings and their staff,” said acting DSNY commissioner Javier Lojan. “Servicing these Empire Bins required a truck that did not exist anywhere in North America. It had to be designed and built, a process industry expert told us it would take five years. We got a prototype built in less than one year.
Lojan is referring to the new automated side-loading garbage trucks. While they still require two-person crews, they do not require the same lifting and physical strain as the traditional rear-loader trucks.
DSNY recently showed off the new containers and trucks to the AmNews for a late-evening pick up in Hamilton Heights. The containers are locked to prevent illegal dumping from private businesses. A keycard, given to each participating building’s superintendent, opens the bin with a tap.
Given the trash pickup occurred on a one-way street, a garbage truck with a right-handed side-loader pulled up. A red hydraulic arm lifted the Empire Bins up and over with ease, dumping the contents over the top rather than back. While the driver operated the side-loader, another sanitation worker stood by and carefully inspected.
Now-NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch previously championed containerization when she headed DSNY. 2023 report “The Future of Trash” delineated potential options for bins and trucks through examples in other major cities. The findings previously maintained containerization was viable on 89% of the Big Apple’s residential streets which holds 77% of the city’s residential waste tonnage without taking up more than 10% of available parking spots — DSNY now says containerization or an off-street solution is viable in the entire city.
Author’s Note: The story has been corrected to say the bins take up half a car length (previously saying it covered an entire parking spot). The story has also been corrected include information updated since the “Future of Trash” came out in 2023.