Some businesses struggle to adopt new NYC trash pickup policy
An NYC sanitation crew. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
It’s been a month since New York City changed its trash pickup points to mitigate the city’s rat problem, but some businesses feel they’re taking on extra chores to address a problem they didn’t create.
"I feel like this was brought on very quickly without thinking of all the little details," said Sharon Hershkowitz, the owner of the Balloon Saloon in Tribeca.
"We spent a full month issuing only warnings, over 22,000 of them, with summonses only beginning at the start of May. Businesses had ample opportunity to adjust to the Trash Revolution that is getting our streets clean," said Joshua Goodman, the Deputy Commissioner, Public Affairs and Customer Experience with NYC’s Department of Sanitation.
New York trash pickup policy now require businesses to put their trash out after 8 p.m.
The city’s Department of Sanitation notes the previous set-out rules for businesses, an hour before closing with no bin requirement, were among the earliest in the country, and made a daily mess of commercial streets like West Broadway, inviting rats.
"All businesses have two options: to set their trash out in a bin an hour before close, or to put bags on the curb after 8 p.m., once peak pedestrian hours have ended," Goodman explained.
"We close at 5, we’re going to have to have staff to put out the garbage pales so that they can be collected," said Hershkowitz.
"The sidewalks of that exact neighborhood are now clean and accessible, whereas they used to be covered in black bags of trash. This is unequivocally good for small businesses," Goodman added.
"The restaurant sheds are the cause of all of this rat infiltration, not the balloon saloon. We don’t sell food, we don’t have food, we’re not a rat-attracting business," Hershkowitz told FOX5.
All of the corners of the balloon business are already accounted for, which poses another challenge to keeping the flow of operations afloat.
"Where are we going to put them? Where are we going to have the square footage to store them after they’re picked up, It's just a logistic nightmare," said Hershkowitz.
Nearby restaurants say because of their hours and their level of contribution to the trash, they’re not moved by the new policy.
Yet, business owners like Hershkowitz are bearing the brunt.
"The restaurant sheds are the cause of all of this rat infiltration not the balloon saloon. We don’t sell food, we don’t have food, we’re not a rat attracting business," Hershkowitz shared.
"On the residential trash side, we aren't just requiring New Yorkers to change, but that we are changing, too, collecting all of the trash hours earlier than ever before," Goodman explained.