
The new commercial containerization rules go into effect starting September 5th. Image Credit: DSNY.
On September 5, 2023, chain businesses with five or more locations citywide will be required to use rigid containers with secure lids when setting out trash curbside for collection. The rule is a part of the city’s ongoing push to control the rat population by restricting sources of food. The rule was finalized and published in the City Record on August 2nd. (read more…)

Image Credit: CityLand
How to collect your fall leaves and properly dispose of yard waste. Autumn has arrived, and with it, the annual plethora of fallen leaves in every shape, color and size. A New York City resident or commercial business owner is responsible for keeping sidewalk areas free from any obstruction that could impede pedestrian traffic. This begs the question, does such a requirement include a responsibility to rake, collect and set out fall foliage?
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Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia at the CityLaw Breakfast on October 5, 2018. Image credit: CityLaw.
Sanitation determined polystyrene foam products were unrecyclable. Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia’s decision that expanded polystyrene cannot be recycled has been upheld by the Appellate Division. The decision paves the way for the City to ban the use of expanded polystyrene single service articles. (read more…)
Homeowner failed to remove snow from the sidewalk within the allotted four-hour time frame. Sanitation on March 15, 2017 at 10:49 p.m. charged Chen Nimchuk Jing with failing to remove snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of her premises. The summons stated that there was no attempt to salt, sand or shovel a path for pedestrians, and the snow storm had officially ended on March 14, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. The Administrative Code requires property owners to remove snow or ice from their adjacent sidewalks within four hours after the snow ceases to fall except when the snow ceases between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. (read more…)

1716 Pacific Street in Brooklyn. Image: Google Maps.
Department of Sanitation parked trucks on lot for more than ten years. In 1948, Vertley Clanton and her husband acquired a lot located at 1716 Pacific Street in the Utica area of Brooklyn, between Schenectady and Utica Avenues. Clanton’s property was across the street from a garage owned by New York City Department of Sanitation and surrounded by City-owned lots. Clanton lived in Manhattan for some time before eventually moving out of state. Clayton did not frequently visit the empty lot, but continued to pay taxes to the City throughout her life. Over time, Sanitation paved Clanton’s property, fenced it in, installed lighting and used the property as a parking lot for garbage trucks. (read more…)