Public litter basket service could be kicked to the curb if the Adams administration gets its way.
The NYC Council announced Monday it is calling for the restoration of funding to basic Department of Sanitation (DSNY) programs and services that keep the city clean ahead of an executive budget hearing.
Council Member Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan), chair of the council’s committee on sanitation and solid waste management, along with others on the council, is urging NYC Mayor Eric Adams to restore funding for more litter basket service and citywide community composting programs.
Both programs were written as priorities in the council’s preliminary budget response, but were left out of the mayor’s FY25 executive budget, the city council said in a press release.
While the council has historically negotiated one-time funding each year to support litter basket pickup service, the council feels the funding should just be there — baselined — since public trash collection is such a vital service, especially as the city battles a growing rat problem.
“New Yorkers are tired of leaving their apartment to be greeted by mountains of trash bags and swarms of rats on their street corner,” Abreu said. “We can and we must do better, and the good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. We have initiatives proven to keep our city clean, like community composting, which teaches New Yorkers how to compost, and litter baskets, which make sure waste is left in bins instead of on our streets.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DOE) announced on Friday that every NYC public school now has curbside composting. As of this spring, the DOE said, DSNY is conducting compost pickup five days a week from every K-12 building across the city.
Composting will continue throughout the DOE’s Summer Rising program, too.
Justin Green, the executive director of Big Reuse, an organization that takes in and resells donated items, is an advocate for community composting. He said it supports the city’s goals to fight climate change.
“At a time of a growing climate crisis we need to invest more in climate solutions and resiliency,” Green said. “Composting reduces methane emissions from landfills which are climate gasses 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Community composting provides compost to improve our green infrastructure while engaging and empowering New Yorkers to take positive environmental actions that visibly improve our city.”
Thousands of overflowing trash cans
As for litter baskets — the first line of defense for putting trash in its place— the council is demanding a baselined restoration of $22 million in funding just to maintain the level of service in each district.
Currently there are 23,000 public waste basket bins throughout the city, many of them turning into community eyesores with trash constantly overflowing.
Council Member Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) stressed the importance of litter basket service and composting, citing them each as a “fundamental municipal responsibility” in keeping the city clean,
“Nothing else our government does matters if we can’t provide clean and livable neighborhoods to New Yorkers of today and tomorrow alike,” Brannan said. “This stuff is not a luxury, but a fundamental municipal responsibility. Keeping our communities clean, safe, and healthy must always come first.”
